Anderson seals victory

It was fitting that Wesley Anderson was the one to seal Fall Creek’s 60-55 overtime victory over Stanley-Boyd in Thursday’s WIAA Division 3 regional semifinal — which was one of the better high school games I’ve been lucky enough to cover.

Anderson, an undersized senior forward, only scored six points in the game but came up big in the final seconds. He rebounded Nathan Price’s missed 3-pointer and with 1.4 seconds left, calmly sank two free throws to make it a two-possession game and give the Crickets a berth in Saturday's regional final in Altoona.

“You always look for memories,” Fall Creek coach Rick Storlie said, “and the smile on Wesley Anderson’s face when he nailed the first one and there was not enough time for them to get two scores, that’s what I’m going to remember.”

Anderson finished the game with seven rebounds and two assists — one of which set up a big 3-pointer by Luke Tweed in overtime.

One of just three seniors on the team, Anderson may not be the most skilled or polished player on the court, but the leadership and emotion he provides is invaluable to the Crickets. Most of his teammates — guys like Matt Steinke, Jordan Reetz, Tweed, Matt Dickinsen and Zach Jacobson — are very calm and even-keeled on the court, which is a good thing. But a little fire can come in handy when a team’s struggling. And Anderson, who also boasts the best hair in the Western Cloverbelt Conference, always seems to be there when his younger teammates need a lift.

“Wesley is our emotional leader,” Storlie said. “He’s not maybe our most gifted player but he’s a gifted athlete. He really gets things done for us. To have him, who’s undersized, going inside, getting the big rebound against their guys and then having to come down and hit free throws, it was just a special time for him and for our team. Did you see the lift from our team when he hit that free throw? The whole bench exploded — and it’s not just because they realized we’re going to win this ballgame. It’s because of Wesley and the emotion he gives us.”

— Joe Ziemer