WAVERLY — Paxten McHone stood at the free throw line at Wartburg College’s Levick Arena.
The 5-foot, 9-inch Jesup senior guard stepped to the stripe with 2.7 seconds left in the Class 2A Substate 3 championship game against North Fayette Valley.
Classmates Nic Moore and Ryan Treptow walked up to him in the seconds before his first free throw.
“To believe in himself. He’s a good free-throw shooter; he’s proven that throughout the season,” Treptow said of advice given. “Just telling him to believe in himself, knock one down. No pressure, it’s a tie game if you miss.”
First foul shot. Clank.
Older sister Payton, in 2020, and older brother Parker, in 2022, made it to state with their respective J-Hawk teams. McHone took a breath as Treptow and Moore walked to him again.
McHone rose, again.
Swish.
North Fayette Valley called a timeout, down one and the length of the court to go. Jesup head coach Joe Smeins then called another after seeing its setup.
The inbound pass went to Kyler White, who raced up the bench side. White’s near mid-court heave hit the front of the rim and bounced off to give Jesup a 57-56 win.
“They trusted me,” Paxten said of his free-throw trip. “They told me I got it, it’s my shot, no one better. They believed in me, and that’s what got me through it.
“Couldn’t do it without my teammates, my coaches, everyone else.”
Jesup (16-9) knocked off the unbeaten TigerHawks (23-1) in a battle of the substate bracket’s No. 2 and 4 seeds. The J-Hawks trailed 43-38 one possession into the fourth quarter and hadn’t led since being up 19-14 in the second frame.
“I think I was telling the radio guys this is our eighth or ninth game we’ve won by less than five points this year,” Smeins said. “We’ve been in this situation — down by seven there, and we’ve been in that situation a lot. Our kids found a way to dig down deep.”
Five of Jesup’s wins by three or fewer points. Two are by four, one is by five.
“It means everything. It’s crazy,” McHone said. “Being an underdog all season, you know, just had to prove them wrong. Never gotta doubt the J-Hawks.”
“The fourth quarter went really well,” junior guard Gage Wymore mused. “We were making shots, and we just believed in each other. It all fell into place.”
Upper Iowa commit Cael Reichter scored for NFV’s 43-38 advantage, but Jesup’s Gage Wymore sank a 3-pointer a minute later for a 43-41 deficit.
Reichter, who scored 35 and grabbed 20 rebounds, added two free throws for a four-point lead. Landon Vogel hit a shot for Jesup, then Reichter hit a jumper (47-43).
McHone drove in and scored with 4:40 on the clock and Gavyn Grove answered (49-45). A Jesup miss led to a 3 from Lincoln Aeschliman (52-45) with 3:55 remaining.
The J-Hawks scored three on two possessions as Treptow split foul shots and Wymore hit a layup with a little more than two minutes remaining.
Then, fortune struck for Jesup. Again.
Treptow converted a three-point play (52-51), and then sank a 3 on the next possession to knot the game at 54 with 58 seconds left.
Decklyn Heins sank a shot for the TigerHawks (56-54), then Treptow hit two from the line for a 56-all score and 21 ticks on the clock. His final trip to the line came as Treptow was guarded by Reichter, who reached to poke the ball away from his AAU teammate.
“I play travel ball with him; he’s a great player,” Treptow said of Reichter. “Really hard to guard. Tall dude; knows what he’s doing. That’s why he’s going to Upper Iowa next year.”
Reichter was whistled for his fifth foul and walked off the court mystified at the call as Treptow went to the line with a chance to tie the game.
“We knew we needed it in that moment,” Treptow said of his eight-point run. “Got the looks I wanted, feeling (the shot) off the hand, and I just let them rip.”
What the J-Hawk did next was more important.
Treptow snaked in front of a TigerHawk entry pass and grabbed the ball, his third steal, as the clock ticked into single digits. Treptow chucked the ball downcourt to a streaking McHone, who was fouled as he grabbed the ball and took a dribble.
“We got contributions in the fourth quarter from everybody,” Smeins said. “Obviously, Paxten with huge free throws at the end. Huge play by Wymore with the layup, Nic Moore did a great job defensively.
“And Ryan took us home.”
Treptow scored 27 four days after putting up 22 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in a substate semifinal against Cascade. Treptow scored 15 in the final 16 minutes, with three 3s and a 4-of-5 performance from the foul line. He added seven rebounds and three assists against NFV.
Vogel collected nine points while everyone else who scored — Parker Mastellar, McHone and Wymore — netted seven apiece.
Mastellar fouled out shortly before Reichter did; he added eight rebounds and and two steals.
“We just played our game,” McHone said of the second half. “We weren’t playing timid … we weren’t playing scared. We were taking shots we wanted, playing with confidence. That’s all we really needed.”
