Gabe Barakat’s late 3-pointer lifts Baldwin past Knoch in thriller

By: Antonio Rossetti
Saturday, December 28, 2024 | 12:01 AM

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Baldwin’s boys basketball team stayed undefeated Saturday night thanks to a Gabe Barakat 3-pointer to go up 57-55 with 12.5 seconds left against Knoch.

“I couldn’t be happier for him,” Baldwin coach Jeff Ackermann said. “What a great kid, senior leader coming off the bench. A lot of kids would pout, but he’s happy. He’s smiling. I think he just loves being with the team in the gym. He’s a really good athlete. We just have good players. … For him to hit a step-back 3 to win the game is just awesome, and I’m so happy for him.”

The game featured 13 lead changes, nine in the third quarter.

The Highlanders trailed 48-41 with 6 minutes left in the fourth.

Baldwin climbed its way back. A Matt Schenk and-one layup and Nathan Wesling’s 1,000th career point made it 48-45.

Caden Cherico then scored off a steal to cut the margin to one on a fast break.

The Knights responded quickly on a hard drive to the basket by Derek Lang, making it 52-49.

Max Marzina came right back with a baseline fadeaway to make it 52-51.

Lang, however, came through in the clutch with a corner 3 to take a 55-51 lead.

Cherico hit a corner 3 of his own with 1:11 left on the clock, cutting it to one.

Baldwin then forced a massive turnover on a pass out of bounds.

Wesling found Barakat and set him up for the 3.

Jackson Bauman, who led Knoch with 15 points and five rebounds, had one last chance. His shot was on target but bounced out as time expired.

“We brought Nate Wesling back in, so that helps us.” Ackermann said. “We just had to get stops. We knew we had to get stops. We felt like we had kind of dug ourselves a ditch … Caden had a steal, which got a breakaway layup for him. Max had a couple nice drives. He had a little spin turn, and then we felt like we could get it over the hump where we were down one with the ball. We felt like we had a good shot at it.”

Wesling finished with six points and four assists. Cherico and Marzina led the team with 12 points.

Schenk tallied 11 points and helped spark a 16-8 run to end the game.

“I just went out there and played my hardest knowing what we need to do because we want to go and stay undefeated,” Schenk said. “Attacking the hoop, having strong takes and being aggressive on rebounds is just a huge thing to get a win.”

Schenk was pleased to see Barakat get his moment.

“I’m super happy for him,” Schenk said. “He’s been practicing that shot so much recently in practice every day. To see him actually capitalize on it and make that is super exciting for me as a teammate and a friend.”

As for Knoch, Lang added 14 points, including four 3s, and Teegan Finucan posted 11 points.

Ackermann was impressed with the talent of a young Knights team. He said Baldwin played Knoch in a spring game and beat it on the final play in a similar type of game.

“Jackson Bauman is a great player,” Ackermann said. “He got a good look, and it just went our way tonight. As well as they shot all game, to get that shot at the end and miss it, we can’t ask for anything more because they shot really well tonight. Lang shot great … they’re a really good team. They don’t start a senior on that team. That’s a really good team.”

The first quarter featured three lead changes. Down 9-8, Knoch’s Vincent DeFelice hit a four-point play to take the lead.

Nevertheless, led by Cherico, the Highlanders rallied and took the lead back 16-14 after one quarter.

The game continued to be competitive with Baldwin leading 31-28 at the half. The Highlanders were led by Cherico’s seven points. Evan Golvash and Matt Schenk each notched six points in the first half.

Finucan then sparked the Knights offense to start the third quarter. He gave the Knights their first lead since the first quarter.

After a big 3 from Max Marzina to give Baldwin a 41-39 lead, back-to-back buckets from Bauman and Liam Avon gave Knoch a 43-41 lead going into the fourth.

The Knights carried the momentum into the fourth when Lang nailed a contested 3-pointer to go up 46-41.

Bauman made a bucket to go up 48-41, but this led to Baldwin’s monumental comeback.

“We’re all coming together, all doing big things and we’re all working as hard as we can,” Schenk said. “We all want it so bad. Winning means everything to all of us.”

Tags: Baldwin, Knoch