Aidan Yamilkoski’s buzzer beater keeps Cedar Rapids Xavier unbeaten

Cedar Rapids Xavier Saints emblem

IOWA CITY – Some coaches would have known as timeout and arrange an offensive play.

However not Mike Freeman. Not Cedar Rapids Xavier.

When Aidan Yamilkoski snatched a rebound of a missed shot by opposing participant Jack McCaffery of Iowa Metropolis West with a smidgen over 9 seconds left, he introduced the ball down the court docket calmly. The senior wing then ultimately maneuvered from the left facet of the court docket to the middle.

The free-throw line, to be precise. A pause, a jumper simply earlier than the buzzer, a graceful … and a Saints win, 64-62.

“Coach despatched Derm (teammate Aidan McDermott) in to cease McCaffery, and he did an awesome job of that,” Yamilkoski stated. “I noticed the rebound, went and obtained it. I’ve obtained a staff round me that believes and trusts that if I’ve the ball, I can put it within the gap.”

Within the gap it went, setting off a celebration for Xavier, which is 9-0 and ranked No. 1 in 3A. This was a case when the brand new 35-second shot clock performed an element down the stretch.

West (6-2) obtained possession with about 44 seconds to go in a tied recreation, however didn’t get any beauty and needed to accept McCaffery’s closely guarded 18-foot turnaround jumper on the finish of the shot clock.

“We informed McDermott that ‘Hey, you’re not leaving McCaffery, you’re guarding him. You’re staying, don’t assist, don’t swap,’” Freeman stated. “Then within the timeout we informed them ‘Hey, if we rebound it, we’re going, we’re not going with a timeout. That’s simply basketball gamers making basketball performs. I imply, coaches can inform them, however they’ve obtained to step up and do it.”

Enjoying with out prime starter and second-leading scorer Kareem Earl due to a again damage, West shot it effectively and performed effectively, taking a three-point lead after 1 / 4 and a four-point lead at halftime.

The Trojans grew their benefit to 43-32 within the third quarter, however Xavier collected itself and whittled its deficit step by step, tying issues late, solely to see McCaffery hit a 3 on the buzzer for a 54-51 lead going to the fourth.

An Yamilkoski and-one three-point play gave Xavier a 56-54 lead with 3:51 left within the fourth, its first lead for the reason that first quarter. Backwards and forwards the groups went from there.

“We beat a high-ranked 4A staff, and we’re a small 3A college that’s simply battling and is disciplined and performs as a staff. I adore it. I really like my teammates,” stated Yamilkoski, who completed with 17 factors and eight rebounds. “We’ve simply simply to maintain grinding. Hold doing what we’re doing. Don’t change something.”

Joe Bean led Xavier with 22 factors, with middle Tyler Netolicky including 15. Freshman Julian Manson had 17 factors to steer West, McCaffery had 14 and Tae’Veon Stevens 13.

Enjoyable recreation with two groups that shot it effectively (each over 50 % from the sphere) and performed exhausting. A great environment within the West health club, too.

“We simply needed to get stops,” Freeman stated. “It wasn’t our offense. We hand over 50 factors a recreation. We weren’t getting stops. We lastly picked up the tempo a bit bit by entering into our press a bit bit. This group, they no have panic in them. They only preserve going at it.”

——————————

AT IOWA CITY WEST

CEDAR RAPIDS XAVIER (64): Joe Bean 10-15 2-2 22, Aidan Yamilkoski 7-16 1-1 17, Tyler Netolicky 7-12 1-2 15, Josef Lemker 1-4 0-0 3, Thomas Sundell 3-5 0-0 7, Aidan McDermott 0-1 0-0 0, Dominic D’Amico 0-0 0-0 0, Preston Lang 0-0 0-0 0, Michael Cunningham 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-54 4-5 64.

IOWA CITY WEST (62): Jack McCaffery 5-14 0-0 14, Julian Manson 5-5 7-10 17, Jacob Koch 3-6 0-0 9, Brady Simcox 3-5 0-0 7, Tae’Veon Stevens 5-6 1-2 13, Ben Hoefer 0-1 0-0 0, Aidan Jacobsen 1-2 0-1 2, Soumaila Sanogo 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-40 8-13 62.

Halftime – Iowa Metropolis West 33, C.R. Xavier 29. 3-point targets – C.R. Xavier 4-13 (Bean 0-2, Yamilkoski 2-7, Lemker 1-1, Sundell 1-2, Lang 0-1), Iowa Metropolis West 9-17 (McCaffery 4-6, Koch 3-5, Simcox 1-2, Stevens 2-3, Hoefer 0-1). Rebounds – Xavier 25 (Yamilkoski 8), Iowa Metropolis West 20 (McCaffery 6). Whole fouls – C.R. Xavier 12, Iowa Metropolis West 8. Fouled out – None.Turnovers – C.R. Xavier 7, Iowa Metropolis West 10.

Feedback: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com