Nothing in baseball can match an ace pitcher, not even the weight of history.
FORT WAYNE – Homestead cashed in at the free-throw line and remained undefeated with a 73-69 home win over New Haven on Saturday.
The Spartans ran their record to 17-0 by hitting 30 of 38 free throws.
“Our last few games we haven’t been hitting free throws like we normally do,” Homestead junior Nick Gamble said. “So this week in practice we focused on that real big, and it paid off in this game.”
Homestead hit 21 straight free throws from the end of the first quarter to early in the fourth.
“We stepped up and made by free throws, and that’s the key to the game,” Homestead coach Chris Johnson said. “We spread them out once we got the lead and relied on our free throws.”
It sets up a big NHC battle Thursday at Homestead (5-0) with Norwell (6-0). The Spartans are the defending NHC champions.
Zach Terrell led the Spartans with 25 points, while Gamble added 24.
The Bulldogs (11-3, 4-2) got to within 71-69 with 31 seconds left but couldn’t capitalize as the Spartans missed their last four free throws.
The Spartans made 14 of 14 from the free-throw line in the third quarter and outscored the Bulldogs 28-18 and led 55-49 entering the fourth.
“They are used to being in tough games, and they are used to battling,” Johnson said of his team. “It’s paying off. It helps that we have won 17 in a row, and we had a good year last year with a lot of these kids.”
New Haven got 23 points from Notre Dame recruit V.J. Beachem.
“At halftime, we talked about what got us to 16-0,” Gamble said. “In the second half, we moved the ball a lot and boxed out, did better on the boards and came out with the win.”
