Clutch Free Throw From Poches Gives Hartland Upset Win

WHITE LAKE — Hartland senior guard Matt Poches says he wants the basketball ball in his hands with time running out and he showed why Wednesday night.

Poches sunk what proved to be the game-winning free throw with 1.8 seconds left to upset Walled Lake Central in a tight district semifinal 48-47 at Lakeland High School.

"I love the game when it comes down to the wire," said Poches, who finished with a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds. "I just felt that is was a normal free throw. I thought the game was sealed after I made that.”

Following the first free throw, Hartland head coach Frank Leppek, who turned 63 on Wednesday, called a time out, telling Poches to miss the second. He then heaved the next chance at the rim, his only miss from the line all night, to kill the clock as the Vikings got off a shot from 84-feet away that fell painfully short.

The victory sets up a 7 p.m. rematch Friday for the district championship against Walled Lake Northern — a team that beat the Eagles in the same game last year after Hartland defeated Central in last year's version of this game. The game will be at Lakeland High School.

“We want this really bad. We’re all hungry for the championship,” said Hartland senior guard Kevin Hughes, who scored nine and helped give the Eagles their biggest lead of the night with a 3-pointer, a key assist and two free throws in the fourth quarter. “I think the senior leadership and the time put in is there. We all have good chemistry together."

That teamwork helped the Eagles outrebound their opposition 26-23. But the Vikings pounded the offensive glass, grabbing 12 — with one of them that nearly won them the game in the closing seconds. But Vikings top-scorer and forward Zac Leimbach's shot missed and ended up in the hands of Poches, who was fouled.

“We said we're going to keep a body on the guy and keep a hand in the passing lane,” Leppek said. “We got a deflection and they fouled us and that’s how it worked out. We’ve been preaching keep your hands up or in the passing lane and it worked out.”

The dramatic ending followed a back-and-forth contest that included 16 lead changes and 12 in the fourth quarter alone. Leimbach led Central in scoring with 14 points.

Early on, Hartland (11-11) jumped out to a 9-6 lead, but the Vikings (14-7) switched to a press forcing turnovers and taking a 20-18 lead going into the half.

“For some reason I had the confidence. I wasn’t nervous at all,” Leppek added. “We had them had them and left them off the hook. It got a little testy there. We had a lot of clutch shooting down the stretch.”