Brian Rathbone • The Bulletin

In Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals, Michael Jordan decided to play despite having flu-like symptoms that nearly kept him out of the pivotal game against the Utah Jazz. Jordan gutted out a 38-point performance that not only gave the Bulls the win and the series lead, but ultimately helped Chicago win its fifth NBA title.

More than a quarter of a century later, the game still resonates and is simply known as Jordan’s “flu game.”

Friday night against the top Class 5A team, Redmond’s Wyatt Horner had a “flu game” of his own.

In the days leading up to the much-anticipated top-five boys basketball matchup between No. 1 Caldera and No. 5 Redmond, the 6-foot-3 junior wing was at home with the flu. He didn’t attend school or practice. It looked as though the Panthers would play yet another Intermountain Conference game without one of their top players.

But Horner wasn’t about to miss a chance at securing a much-needed IMC win and getting the Panthers back into the conference title chase.

“I woke up on game day and it was time to go,” Horner said.

It was hard to find any signs that Horner hadn’t touched a basketball in a couple of days. He finished with a team-high 26 points.

Trailing 48-43 heading into the final quarter, Horner scored nine fourth-quarter points, including the game-sealing free throw with less than a second remaining to help the Panthers pull off the upset at Caldera, 62-61.

“He toughened up and went to school today,” said Redmond coach Reagan Gilbertson. “And he was a difference-maker.”

The fifth-ranked Panthers closed on a 13-5 run in the final 5 minutes, 44 seconds to hand the top-ranked Wolfpack their first Intermountain Conference loss and create a three-way tie atop the IMC standings (Redmond, Caldera and Summit). Summit beat Redmond, Redmond defeated Caldera and Caldera topped Summit in the teams’ first meetings.

“We were able to pull that out somehow,” Gilbertson said. “We had a rough third quarter, we stuck together, had some foul trouble. We didn’t hang our heads and we were ready to go.”

Caldera, which had won 10 of its last 11 games to rise to the top spot in the 5A rankings, played without its star big-man Will Jenson, who was out with an illness.

“It was a hard-fought battle between two great teams,” said Caldera coach Evan Dougherty. “I really thought we played well. Our style of play needed to adjust and we did a good job of that. And we had guys step up, and I’m proud of them for that.”

With Jenson out, the Panthers (14-5 overall, 3-1 IMC) jumped to an 11-2 lead in the game’s opening minutes. But a couple of timely 3-pointers by senior Tomas Nishikawa, who came off the bench, helped spark the Wolfpack (13-5, 3-1) after a shaky start.

By the second quarter, both teams had settled in. The game became a little more methodical, as both Redmond and Caldera had key players battling foul trouble.

The Panthers had a 36-31 lead at halftime. Senior guard Miles Macomber led the scoring charge for the Wolfpack, scoring 17 of the team’s 31 points in the first half, while Horner led the Panthers with 13 of his team-high 16 points.

In the third quarter, the Wolfpack proved just why they have risen up the 5A rankings in their third season as a varsity program. They outscored the Panthers 17-7 in the period to take a 48-43 lead. Nishikawa, who finished with 15 points on the night, scored nine points, made two more threes and had two steals in the third quarter.

“He was huge,” Dougherty said of Nishikawa. “And he’s been huge for us all season. It might not show up in the box score or in the minutes. (Seb Fievet) gets into foul trouble and Tomas comes in and is ready to.”

After a five-point scoring burst from Macomber, who finished with a team-high 26 points, early in the fourth quarter, it looked like it was going to be the Wolfpack that escaped with a victory. Instead, it was the experienced Panthers that made the crucial plays down the stretch.

Senior guard Kaleb Losoya knocked down a crucial three, his third of the game, in the corner. Senior guard Ian Pearson converted a basket and a free throw, and Horner scored nine points in the final eight minutes to help secure the win for Redmond.

“We just took it possession by possession,” Horner said. “We all just made winning plays when we needed to at the right situations when we needed them. It feels good to get this win.”

Redmond plays at Mountain View on Tuesday at 7 p.m., while Caldera plays at Bend High, also Tuesday at 7 p.m.