WAYNESBORO – Somehow, someway, the outcome of high school basketball games comes down to the three-point shot.
Nineteen feet, nine inches. That’s the distance between the three-point arc and the basket. Players can practice it like Larry Bird. But if they don’t have the right touch, the right trajectory, the right spin on the basketball, the stat sheet won’t look good. However, if all goes well, the three-point shot can make the difference between winning and losing, especially if the opponent is making them.
The Waynesboro Indians connected on nine three-pointers, including the first three shots of the game, and went on to defeat Middletown 62-43 on Friday, Jan. 9. The Tribe finished the game shooting 50 percent on three-pointers, adding up to 27 points, nearly half of the team’s total points.
Dominic Goodworth made an astounding five out of six three-point shots and ended up with a team-high 21 points. Rayshawn Frazer-Hewitt (10 points) made two threes, while Carter Hough (15 points) and Jayden Tyler each connected on one three-pointer.
Nate Nystrom, who was very good on the glass Friday, didn’t make a three-pointer but had seven points. He could have reached double digits, but he was three of eight from the free-throw line. Nystrom grabbed 10 rebounds.
“So much in sports is confidence,” said Waynesboro head coach Tom Hoffman, whose team started the season 0-5 but has won four of the last six games and stands at 4-7. “When you’re confident and feel good about yourself, the ball goes in. When you’re doubting, it seems like the ball doesn’t go in.”
Overall, Waynesboro shot 39 percent from the field (22 of 57), making the three-pointers virtually essential to victory. Middletown shot 41 percent, but the Blue Raiders made seven fewer shots than Waynesboro, though they did make seven threes, led by Mason Spencer, who made all seven.
The Indians led 21-8 after the first quarter and 41-21 at halftime. But Hoffman cautioned his team at the break about getting comfortable with the lead, noting how Waynesboro rallied from a large deficit against Greencastle-Antrim before losing by six points.
That didn’t happen to Waynesboro, which scored nine of the first 12 points in the third quarter to build a 50-23 advantage. Hough sank a three-pointer, and Nystrom made a
conventional three-point play, followed by a Nystrom follow-up basket that gave the Tribe the 27-point lead.
Waynesboro will host Northern on Tuesday, Dec. 13, in a Mid-Penn Colonial Division game. The Polar Bears defeated the Indians 50-39 on Dec. 10.
Photos by Toya McCleary:
