WATCH: Illinois high school student hits half-court buzzer-beater to win game
Gunar Lobdell and the Lena-Winslow Panthers have been trying to quickly turn the page from football to basketball after winning the IHSA Class 1A state football title back on Nov. 25.
Lobdell's buzzer-beating, almost-2/3-court, game-winner during Tuesday's Senior Night festivities against Fulton was more than enough to help that process along.
Le-Win wins state football title: The 15 numbers that helped define Lena-Winslow's championship football season
"That's one of those that you think about as a kid, especially once it all cleared open for me and I could see it," said Lobdell, who led the NUIC in rushing with 1,529 yards and 24 touchdowns after his family moved from Orangeville to Lena last summer. "And we want that one to be the one that really gets us going. The one that takes us from football to basketball, and helps us take off."
Lobdell was one of Le-Win's three star running backs that just helped lead the Panthers to their third straight football state championship. The others were Gage Dunker and Jake Zeal.
On Tuesday, all three boys played a large role in Lena-Winslow pulling off a much-needed win after getting blown out in their season opener.
Here's how it happened...
They led by three in the low-scoring affair headed into the fourth and were up most of the way Tuesday, but Fulton got a basket from Ethan Price with 2.7 seconds left to tie the game at 41-all, setting the table for the crazy finish.
"I told them they would have time for about two dribbles and then they would have to get it off," Le-Win head coach Kyle Benson said about his chat with his team during the timeout just before the finish. "And that play was for Gunar. I've seen him step back and shoot from way out in practice, and some kids just have that knack, so we felt like he could do it."
Lobdell got the in-bounds' pass, dribbled a couple of times, worked his way around Dunker's pick, and launched a clean shot that went in right as the buzzer was sounding off. Lobdell went nuts, the Panthers' bench went crazy, and the home crowd erupted and spilled onto the court as they celebrated a dramatic win.
"The shot just felt right," Lobdell said. "And then, well everyone went crazy; everyone," Lobdell said. "I won't ever forget that. My first buzzer-beater, and my first game-winner. Everything.
"It's just a crazy way to start the season. Right?"
Now Le-Win is at NUIC-rival Forreston (2-2) Thursday night and then hosts Durand next Tuesday before the holiday break.
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star, and for over 30 years all together.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: WATCH: Lena-Winslow player hits half-court buzzer-beater to win game
