Mike Lang’s dad had a saying when a player would be at the free throw line, hoping to put the game away.

“Come on, can ‘em.”

It was around this time last year when Lang’s dad was taken to the hospital and passed away from COVID pneumonia.

As Lang stood on the sideline Thursday night inside Bollinger Athletic Complex, going for win No. 200 at Trinity Lutheran High School, he had one thought as Bailey Tabeling was at the free throw line in double overtime against Madison.

“Come on Bailey, can ‘em.”

She did.

“I just can’t help but think he was with us here tonight,” Lang said after the Cougars prevailed with a 65-58 victory over the Cubs.

After the game, Lang’s wife and kids presented him with a plaque for accomplishing 200 wins, and his players walked out with a big banner displaying the milestone.

Lang was clearly emotional while hugging his family and team.

“I lost my dad a year ago, and he was our biggest fan and he wanted to see all of those 200 wins,” Lang said. “I’ve never scored a single point. This is all about having great players and great assistants. I’ve been fortunate and blessed here. Like I told them, I will take all the credit for a loss and give them all the praise and glory for a win.”

Lang did praise his team following the roller coaster of a game.

It was a slow start in the first quarter for the Cougars, who couldn’t find a bucket until three minutes into the game.

But once that first bucket dropped, Trinity started to find the bottom of the net. Laura Roeder had a fast-break layup, Jordan Brewer and Liza Froedge both knocked down 3-pointers and Madison Keith had some buckets down low.

They all got in the score sheet before Tabeling scored her first basket to give Trinity a 14-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Lang said before the game he wanted to make Madison beat his players one-on-one on the defensive end and not let the Cubs get hot from the perimeter.

The Cougars were pressuring the ball and switching screens to make sure they didn’t let Madison’s shooters create separation, and that led to a 28-23 halftime lead.

But Madison got things going in the second half. The Cubs took a 33-30 lead in the third quarter before Froedge and Tabeling had back-to-back buckets to take the lead back.

Trinity took a 36-35 lead into the fourth quarter.

Madison kept the pressure on. The Cubs went up by as much as five, 41-36, with 4:59 to play. Trinity closed regulation on a 7-2 to run to force overtime, including Froedge drilling a huge 3-pointer with 20 seconds left to tie the game.

“Liza had the confidence to knock down a big shot,” Lang said. “She’s been lacking in confidence a bit in her outside shot, and it was great to see her step up and knock that shot down.”

It was Trinity who held the lead for most of the first overtime, and then it was Madison’s Casey Dyer who hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force a second overtime, tied at 53.

“In the scheme of the moment, it’s hard to stay that disciplined,” Lang said. “I thought for the most part we did a good job. Good shooters hit big shots, and that’s what they did. Overall, I’m proud of where we are defensively.”

Keith had some big baskets to open the second overtime, and then the Cougars were able to ice the game at the charity stripe.

Tabeling led the team in scoring with 27 points, going 12-of-14 from the line. Keith scored 15 points, Froedge had eight, Brewer seven and Roeder six.

“I’m super proud of them,” Lang said. “They had a lot of resilience, and man, they pulled out a tough win tonight.”

Thursday was also senior night for the Cougars, who honored Tabeling and student manager Tori Lang, Mike’s daughter, before the game.

“First off, to be able to share this with your daughter on senior night in a big win was great,” Lang said. “It was special night for her. These girls have made her feel like she’s a part of this team and very welcome.”

Trinity has never lost on senior night in Lang’s tenure, and he was glad the Cougars were able to get the win for Tabeling, who shared a special moment with Lang as they walked off the floor.

“Where does it end with Bailey? I can’t begin to start and I can’t begin to stop talking about her,” Lang said. “Bailey knows how special she is to me.”

Lang’s career record at TLHS is now 200-93 through 12 seasons. As for this season, the Cougars are 17-6 and ranked No. 5 in Class 1A.

Trinity will close its regular season slate out on Saturday at home against South Decatur before taking on Shawe Memorial next week in the first round of sectionals at Rising Sun High School.

“All I know is Shawe has to look at the paper tomorrow in Madison and see we beat Madison, which is going to give us confidence going in, knowing we can compete with anybody,” Lang said.