The Washington-Marion Charging Indians were on the right side of a shootout Tuesday night when they topped the St. Louis Saints 79-77 in a season opening matchup between the Lake Area’s top two teams from a year ago.

Head coach Albert Hartwell and the Indians breathed a huge sigh of relief when the final buzzer sounded after a hectic second half that witnessed 15 lead changes.

“That was a very hard win,” Hartwell said. “The kids did what we thought they would. We got some guys back from football who were a little rusty, but they fought through. We all made some mistakes, but we have to learn together.”

With just under a minute remaining in the game, the Saints, who were up 76-74, committed a backcourt violation that allowed W-M’s L’Marcus Walker to tie the score. On the ensuing inbounds pass, senior Quajae Boutte stole the ball and scored the winning bucket on a layup.

“That was a very big play,” Hartwell said.

Boutte finished with 10 points, all of which came in the final quarter.

“He’s a tough kid. He’s a scrapper and a fighter,” Hartwell said of Boutte. “He’s one of those guys that you want on your side in a fight because he’s never going to give up on you.”

The Saints got the opportunity to tie the score, but Cameron Lemonia made one of two free throw attempts. The Indians responded with a free throw before St. Louis point guard P.J. Hardy’s Hail Mary shot fell just short as time expired.

The Indians started the game with a 7-0 run, but an 8-0 spurt put the Saints right back into it. They held a small lead for a majority of the first half.

In the second half it was anyone’s game with neither team separating itself by more than three points.

Sophomore Christian Edwards led the way for the Indians with 21 points and four steals.

“He brings a lot to the table; he’s going to be a very good player for us,” Hartwell said. “We are getting him into shape and working with him after he finished with football.”

Boutte, Walker, Da’Vantre Vitor and Joshua Porche added 10 points apiece.

Junior forward Kelvin Henry led the way for St. Louis with a game-high 24 points, six rebounds and five steals.

Senior Christian Fontenot added 18 points, seven rebounds and five steals for the Saints.

Hardy and Lemonia finished in double figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively.(Kirk Meche/Special to the American Press)

Kirk Meche