Stadium’s Winskill ‘just happened to be there’ for game-winning layup against Timberline
Henry Winskill was in the right place at the right time. When Baaroc Rivers floated a layup with around two seconds left in Stadium’s Class 3A state tournament regional play-in game on Tuesday night against Timberline to win the game, he missed.
But there was Winskill to grab the weakside rebound below the hoop, move to the other side of the basket and make the game-winning layup. Just in time.
“I just happened to be there,” Winskill said.
An unlikely hero, Winskill’s layup sealed a 58-57 comeback win and sent the Tigers to Saturday’s state tournament regional matchup against Rainier Beach. If Stadium wins, it will be headed to next week’s 3A Hardwood Classic state tournament at the Tacoma Dome.
“Just like we drew it up,” Stadium coach Dominic Batten said, tongue-in-cheek.
There’s some truth to that, though. Winskill knew his role was to be ready for a putback attempt.
“I try to be (ready) a lot of the time, because there’s a lot of time I’m in that short corner there and I know there’s a good chance of the ball coming off,” he said. “I’m always just ready to jump up there and get that rebound.”
Stadium’s depth has been tested this year with injuries. Batten has employed the tried-and-true “next man up” motto for his team.
“We’ve had a few games where an unsung hero comes in, gives us a boost of momentum and does their job,” Batten said. “We thought Henry all year, could be a really good rebounder, a really good defender.
“And we always tell him, ‘If you get it, go straight up.’ And he crashed the board hard, bought into that. That’s the biggest layup of the season so far.”
Rivers scored a game-high 19 points for the Tigers. Donovan Gill added 11. Cedric Ragland led Timberline with 14, Darrell Gipson added 13 and Kenyon Simmons scored 11.
Stadium will travel north to face Rainier Beach, the tournament’s No. 10 seed, 8 p.m. Saturday at Bellevue College.
