Carlisle’s buzzer-beater gives Chargers chance to secure fifth place at Macomb-Western tourney

MACOMB, Ill. — It was only fitting that Ethan Carlisle stepped to the free-throw line in the final seconds of overtime and put the finishing touches on a fifth-place finish for the Illini West boys basketball team at the Macomb-Western Holiday Tournament.

His heroics at the end of regulation were the reason the Chargers were still playing.

With Illini West trailing Eureka 51-48 in Saturday’s fifth place game at Western Hall, Carlisle drained a 3-pointer from the right corner at the fourth quarter buzzer to force overtime. The Chargers’ captain then scored the first points of overtime with a 3-pointer from the opposite corner and knocked down two free throws with six seconds left to help secure a 60-55 victory.

“He’s our head honcho for a reason,” Illini West coach Blaize Kimmel said.

As confidently as it appeared Carlisle shot the ball in crunch time, he did not think his buzzer-beating triple had enough juice.

“Honestly when I shot it, I thought it was going to be short because I didn’t finish my follow-through,” Carlisle said. “I usually hold my follow-through.”

After Carlisle’s quick-release, last-second shot swished through the net, Wesley Robertson — who passed Carlisle the ball — roared with excitement and gave Carlisle a shove as they made their way to the bench.

“I just had to hype him up, tell him that was probably the best shot of his career,” Robertson said. “The adrenaline just got to us and we just celebrated.”

Robertson said that shot gave the Chargers, who were playing their fourth game in three days, a burst to gut out their third victory of the tournament.

“That was wild,” Robertson said. “That brought us a lot of energy to get through overtime, too.”

Before calmly making the final two free throws of overtime, Carlisle approached that trip to the charity stripe like any other.

“Just make them,” Carlisle said. “I’m pretty good at my free throws. I don’t want to jinx myself, but it’s just like normal free throws. Just go up there and make them.”

Carlisle’s trifecta from the left corner 37 seconds into overtime was made possible by arguably the most impressive of Stephen Sparks’ eight rebounds.

After Tre Niederman missed a three from the top of the key, the ball bounced high off the rim, and Sparks — who was near the 3-point line in the left corner when Niederman released the shot — sprinted to the center of the lane, leapt in between three Hornets defenders, snatched the ball out of the air with one hand and kicked it out to Brennan Grotts. The Chargers worked it around the perimeter, and Robertson delivered a skip pass to Carlisle for the go-ahead three.

“That was a really big play,” Carlisle said of Sparks’ rebound.

Kimmel gave Sparks kudos, too.

“He rebounded the crap out of the ball,” Kimmel said.

Sparks scored a career-high 12 points and made two 3-pointers for the first time, as well.

“I’m glad he chose that game to do it,” Kimmel said.

In snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, the Chargers took home their first trophy from the Macomb-Western Holiday Tournament since 2014 when they finished fourth.

“People can say, ‘It’s just fifth place,’ and things like that, but I see it as a big stepping stone,” Kimmel said. “We’re 11-4 going into the new year, and we couldn’t be happier.”