Andrews – Matt Maennle had a message for his team after a poor first half after the Black Knights, but first he had to wait for his team to finish talking.
Trailing 32-18 at halftime, the Wildcats were telling themselves they were still in the game and had a chance. In what will likely be the final game this winter at the Ken Solesbee Athletic Center, Andrews gave its fans an incredible finish.
The Wildcats came all the way back, besting Robbinsville 55-50. After a 69-61 win at Cherokee on Feb. 1 and a 58-32 win at Highlands the next day, the Wildcats are 11-10 overall and 3-6 in the Big Smoky Mountain Conference.
“I was frustrated at halftime, they were frustrated at halftime,” Maennle said. “They knew what was at stake, they knew what we had to do and we did it. It was fun to watch and fun to be a part of.”
Before the comeback, the Wildcats had to slog through a tough first half. Robbinsville (10-10, 4-5) came out hot, hitting four threes in the opening period to jump out to a 13-3 lead.
The Black Knights led by double digits the rest of the first half. On the other end, Andrews was stymied by the Robbinsville zone, settling for too many three-pointers while getting outworked for rebounds.
“It was a little bit of an effort thing,” Maennle said. “They were playing harder than us.”
In the second half, that changed. Andrews looked more focused, locking in on both ends of the floor. The three-point shots started falling, the product of better ball movement rather than settling for shots. On defense, they stopped allowing as many offensive rebounds and limited the penetration of Robbinsville’s guards.
A three-pointer by Donovan Bateman cut the lead to 36-32, then he hit three free throws with 1:20 to go in the third quarter to cut the lead to one. After Bryce Adams split a pair of free throws, a triple by Cam Rattler gave Andrews the lead heading into the final frame.
The back-and-forth action continued in the fourth quarter. Neither team led by more than two points until Bateman banked in a three-pointer to give the Wildcats a 51-48 lead with 1:23 remaining.
Isaac Weaver hit two more from the foul line with 27.5 seconds to go to push the lead, only for Bateman to foul Xander Wachacha while the Robbinsville sophomore was shooting a three-pointer. Wachacha made two of three, and Weaver missed the front end of a one-and-one to give Robbinsville a chance to tie the game.
However, Wachacha missed – and Kegan Ellis found Bateman racing downcourt for a transition layup to put the game away.
“After (the Cherokee) win, they’re realizing what they’re capable of and what they can do together,” Maennle said. “I told them after the game it wasn’t nothing coaches did. It’s what they did as players.”
Andrews played Murphy in its final regular-season game Tuesday after this week’s Cherokee Scout went to press. With a win against the Bulldogs and with some other likely results, the Wildcats could be the No. 3 seed in the Big Smoky Mountain Conference Tournament.