Nelson’s game-tying shot rattles in and out as Watersprings falls in state semis

CALDWELL — With 17.2 seconds left in the game, and down by two, the Watersprings Warriors went to the well from which they have drunk so often over the past four years.

Senior Korban Nelson attacked the paint and created a great shot. But his game-tying attempt rolled halfway down before popping out. Nelson and the Warriors were left with their arms out and palms to the sky, having seen yet another shot seem to almost get rejected by an invisible force below the net.

The Garden Valley Wolverines removed all doubt when Maxon Yearsley hit both free throws on the other end, sinking Watersprings to claim a 60-56 semifinal victory and a spot in the 1A state championship game.

Head coach Evan Bindenagel spoke about Nelson and fellow senior Ryan Demkowicz after the game, saying that they have been part of four 20-win seasons. Nelson in particular, earned the right to have to ball and make the decision on the final play of the game.

“Korban’s made big shot after big shot since he was a freshman,” Bindenagel said. “Sometimes it just doesn’t fall. … He puts us on his back.”

It was revealed after the game that the Warriors’ locker room had been riddled by a flu bug. Nelson, who joined the 1,000-point varsity club this season, was so sick earlier in the week, according to Bindenagel, that he was unsure he would even be able to make the trip to Nampa for the tournament.

“We haven’t had a full practice in two-and-a-half weeks,” the coach said after the game. “For them to come out, win game one, then go battle like that game two, I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Through the adversity of illness, Watersprings was, as Bindenagel described it, one or two “in-and-out shots” away from earning a spot in Saturday’s championship game.

Neither team ever had control of a back-and-forth game that featured 10 lead changes. There was never a lead, by either team, of more than six, meaning every possession carried maximum weight.

Bindenagel worked to ease a visibly worn team after the hard-fought loss.

He said he used the difficult loss to teach a life lesson, telling the boys in the locker room that, while the defeat “sucks,” they need to remember that a win Saturday would give Watersprings a third-place trophy, something the program has never achieved.

“Let’s not quit and die now, let’s get up and go,” he recalled telling the team. “I think we’ll get after it tomorrow — I think we’ll rally.”

Watersprings will face Carey in the 1A third-place game, with tip-off at Caldwell High School, scheduled for noon.