One more hoop

During a timeout in the waning moments of the 2016 NAIA Division II national championship game in April, University of St. Francis basketball head coach Chad LaCross drew up a play.
With only 19 seconds left on the clock, LaCross’ Cougars were trailing by one point against the Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats, 67-66. Then-junior guard Kegan Comer, a 2013 Jay County High School graduate, had just hit a jumper at the 30-second mark to put the Cougars within striking distance, and a Wildcats turnover gave the Cougars the ball and an opportunity for a go-ahead basket with 19 seconds left.
LaCross drew up a play for Comer and forward Bryce Lienhoop to pair up for a chance to score.
“It was a handoff for me to give it to Bryce (Lienhoop) in the corner, for him to get to the rim,” Comer said. “If he didn’t get all the way, it was to kick it to me for a jump shot.”
The ball was inbounded to Comer, who brought it down the court and toward Lienhoop on the left wing. He handed it off, and Lienhoop drove toward the basket, but was stopped 10 feet short of the hoop. He kicked the ball out to Comer in the left corner.
Comer stepped forward to catch the pass, and fired from just inside the three point line.
“I was expecting to shoot it, it was just an in rhythm shot,” Comer said. “Most people thought that was supposed to go in.”
The ball came up short and bounced off the front of the rim.
A Wildcat rebound and subsequent time-saving foul from the Cougars sent Indiana Wesleyan’s Josh Mawhorr to the free-throw line for two shots.
He missed the first, but hit the second free throw to extend the lead to 68-66, with only 6.8 seconds left on the clock.
That left one more chance for the Cougars to tie the game. Comer took the inbound pass as the clock started to tick down.
“I just got the ball and went,” he said.
He ran the length of the floor and put up a left-handed layup over three Wildcat defenders, but it fell short and bounced off the rim and into the hands of an Indiana Wesleyan player. A quick foul left 0.9 seconds on the clock, and after one made free throw, a three-point deficit for the Cougars. St. Francis’ Evan Henry took the inbounds pass and heaved a half court shot that fell left of the mark.
Since that day, St. Francis hasn’t lost a basketball game.
“Going to the national championship and playing a team that you already beat three times earlier in the season, it’s unbelievable, there’s no question that it’s driven us every game (since then),” Comer said.
This season, the team is 9-0, and has won all but one game by double digits. Comer, now a senior, has averaged 10.5 points per game on 44 percent shooting and 3.7 assists per game.
“The way that everyone’s clicking right now is crazy, everyone has the same mindset,” Comer said. “We have so many returners, (they) are doing a good job leading.”
Comer, who has been a St. Francis starter since his freshman year, credits his understanding of the game and ball control to his coach at Jay County High School, Craig Teagle.
“If there’s one thing that people were to say about me, it’s that my basketball IQ may be higher (than others), and that’s because of coach Teagle,” Comer said. “Just the way that he coaches his players to take control of the ball and keep ahold of the ball and take great shots … That’s one thing that stuck with me.”
Comer was part of an impressive Jay County team in 2012-13 that broke the regular season win record, set the school record for regular season winning percentage (.909) and tied the record for longest win streak (14).
But stepping up to the college level was an adjustment for Comer, especially while getting used to the fast paced style of offense run by St. Francis.
“Freshman year I came in and started. I was still a little timid, playing the Jay County way with the so-called seven passes before shooting,” Comer said. “It kind of took me a little while to learn to shoot and stay aggressive.”
Now, Comer said the team’s chemistry and basketball acumen has made them efficient scorers.
“Everybody is family, all the coaches and the players, it’s all equal. It’s just this bond and relationship that’s really made us so good and why we compete for championships each year,” Comer said. “In our opinion, any open shot is a good shot. But we like to give up good shots for great shots. We’re just such an unselfish team … We have a great feel for who has the hot hand.”
For the top-ranked Cougars, a national championship is the season’s ultimate goal.
“We always have a little retreat for the team before the season starts,” Comer said. “(This year) every single person on the team had the same goal in mind. That was championship or bust.”