With two seconds remaining in the game, the Rossville Hornets trailed by two in the Indiana Kitchen Holiday Classic Championship game against the Taylor Titans.
Nolan Britt delivered a Christmas miracle, connecting on a three-pointer as time expired to give Rossville the win 60-59.
“We were looking to get Brayden Thiele-Hahn or Aiden Schaumburg the ball,” said junior forward Nolan Britt. “We were struggling to get it in, so I cut to the corner, and just go up with a crazy shot.”
After trailing for most of the game, the Hornets put together a handful of defensive stops in the final few minutes to rally. With 30 seconds left, Aiden Schaumburg connected on a midrange jumper and was fouled. He converted the three-point play to cut the lead to one at 58-57.
Taylor’s Keyshawn Galloway was fouled and had a chance to put the lead back to three with 13 seconds remaining. He connected on the first free throw, but missed the second.
With two seconds left, Rossville coach Cory Dunn burned a timeout to draw up the final play.
“Coach just said, ‘someone has to step up, someone has to make a big shot, ‘” Sophomore Andrew Woollen said.
Britt caught the ball near the corner and, with a defender in his face, launched a three just before the buzzer sounded, giving the Hornets a thrilling victory.
The play was named The Solidarity Community Federal Credit Union Play of the Game. Watch it by clicking below.
https://x.com/Hoosierland_TV/status/2006195989804196122?s=20
Woollen was named The Farmers Bank Player of the Game for his strong performance off the bench for the Hornets. He finished 11 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals, keeping Rossville in the game.
“I want to give a shoutout to Andrew Woollen,” Britt said. “He came in, played hard and he got a ton of rebounds. Being the smallest guy on the court, you wouldn’t think he’d be the one going in everywhere, but he was flying all over the place, driving to the basket and playing hard. That was a good team win.”
“I can go in there and sub in for five different people,” Woolen said. “I can just give energy and play as hard as I possibly can. I knew they were leaving the paint open because they were so worried about (Thiele-Hahn), but we have so many different weapons, anyone can go score.”
The Hornets hadn’t beaten the Titans since January of 2021, and fell to Taylor in last year’s IKHC Championship game.
With the win, Rossville improves to 8-1 and will play Taylor again on Jan. 9 for their next game.
In the win, Junior Brayden Thiele-Hahn eclipsed 1000 career points
Watch the full archived game on Hoosierland TV by clicking below.
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