Cash Farrell drove to the rim, got fouled and went to the line with Laconia down 3 with 0.3 seconds left.
Coach Dylan Wurtz immediately subbed in 6-foot-3 sophomore Mason Langenfeld to go along with 6-foot-4 senior Carter Bonlender.
Farrell made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second. Langenfeld looped around the lane, got past St. Mary’s Springs senior Emmitt Huhn and tipped the ball back up.
The ball rattled around, hung on the rim but would not fall, securing a 67-65 Flyway conference road win for Springs.
"Oh my gosh, it must have gone around at least three times," Springs senior Noah Moul said. "I thought it was going to drop for sure. I feel bad for him; [Laconia] played a heck of a game."
Springs (9-3 overall, 5-0 in Flyway) left the door open when Moul uncharacteristically missed a pair of bonus free throws with about 7 seconds left. To that point, Moul was 5-for-6 from the line and is a career 70-plus percent shooter.
Coach Kyle Krueger said in that situation, Moul is the player he trusts the most.
"If we're in a free-throw situation, the guy I want at the line is Noah Moul," Krueger said. "Last year, he shot 75 percent; as a sophomore, it was like 70; I think it's close to 80 right now. He can shoot the ball even with all those muscles and [on] free throws he's very good."
Despite the last misses, the Ledgers were excellent down the stretch from the line, shooting 7-for-10 once they got into the bonus.
That came about midway through the second half, for the game was physical and at times inconsistently officiated.
Krueger said his team embraces though, physical games.
"We loved it," Krueger said. "That's why we've gone with a bigger lineup because I think that makes us better. Rather than having three little guys out there, we've only got two little guys.
"Physicality is what we try to do; I mean, they're a physical team as well. Two good teams here, it was a heck of a game."
Moul scored a game-high 20 points. He hit three 3-pointers, including back-to-back triples in the second half.
Springs made nine 3s as a team, senior Braeden Freund made four of them and scored 16 points coming off the bench.
Freund’s performance was a huge bonus for Springs. He came into the game averaging 5.9 points per game and shooting just 25 percent from 3.
"Braeden started our first three, four games of the year, then we made a switch to get a little bigger," Krueger said. "Honestly, I like him coming off the bench because he can give us that spark with his shooting.
"Tonight, he shot the ball well and we really needed it. He was probably not on the scouting report that he was going to knock down four."
Laconia (8-2, 3-2) did a nice job limiting the 6-foot-7 Huhn, who finished with 13, but also had to contend with foul trouble most of the night.
The Spartans got a big-time performance from Nick Blank, who scored 18 points and hit four 3s.
Ledgers junior Ben Baker said they needed to defend better in the second half against Blank.
"They can shoot," Baker said. "So, coach told us to kind of stunt so they couldn't get the 3s off, which we knew we had to do, and we did that well in the second half."
Blank made three 3s in the first half and just one in the second.
Baker was also tasked with being the primary defender against Laconia’s Cash Farrell. According to the published rosters, Baker is 5 inches shorter than Farrell.
"I'm a scrappy defender," Baker said. "I try getting the deflections and all that and try to get him moving quick, so he doesn't know what to do."
Farrell finished with 15 points. Ethan Pinno led Laconia with 19.
PHOTO GALLERY: Springs at Laconia boys basketball - 1/10/2025
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