Noah Juergens wasn't sure his shot had really gone in the basket. His coach Don Passenant never saw what happened. They were both delighted by what they eventually discovered. Juergens did in fact make a three-point heave from two strides inside the halfcourt line with three seconds to go to lift the Rising Sun boys basketball team to an enthralling 53-50 victory over visiting Perryville Tuesday night.
After Juergens missed the free throw, a jump ball was called as teammate Will Farrington and a Perryville player fought for the rebound. The possession arrow pointed in Rising Sun's favor and time expired after Brennan Martz inbounded to Kevin Alknburg. The Tigers had gotten possession with nine seconds to go after Perryville's Elijah Johnson was called for an offensive foul – using his forearm to clear out a Rising Sun defender – on a drive to the basket. "I decided not to call a timeout because I felt like they would be able to set up their defense better," Rising Sun coach Don Passenant said. "So I went ahead and ran it anyway. I almost called a timeout because we had some problems getting the ball in but I decided I had enough confidence my guys could bring it up the court. Noah did bring it up and he got fouled. I see Noah get fouled and say, 'Good, Noah got fouled'. And I didn't even see the shot go in. Everybody's cheering and I [thought], 'It went in?' So I was pleasantly surprised by that. And I was trying to call timeout but they didn't hear me anyway … When Noah got [across halfcourt] I was yelling for a timeout. Luckily he didn't hear me." Just a few minutes after the game, Juergens wasn't really sure what had transpired. "I don't know how I got the ball," he said. "I got the ball somehow. I was on a fastbreak and I didn't see the time. And everybody was getting louder and louder and the time was running down, so I just decided to throw it up and I happened to get fouled. I didn't make the free throw though so I'm kind of disappointed by that. I made the shot, though, and that's what's important.I'm glad we could win against Perryville, of course, they're number one." His immediate reaction? "I asked myself if it really went in, first of all," Juergens said. "And then I had to tell my team to get off the court because I didn't want a technical. My mind is going circles. It's crazy. I'm glad I could get my team the win." Add Perryville coach Charles Givens Sr. to the list of people bewildered by what occurred. "We played poor," he said right after the game. "I can't give you any more thought. You need to talk to one of them (the Perryville players). They can give you a better assessment than me." Asked about the winning shot, Givens said, "The referees didn't didn't do a great job but I guess they did enough job to orchestrate the game and we just didn't do well. We lost. That's all I can tell you. I don't know what kind of answer I can give you." TyRell Hollingsworth, who paced Perryville with 22 points despite sitting out much of the third quarter because of foul trouble, summed it up succinctly. "We didn't come out to play and Rising Sun did," Hollingsworth said. "The effort wasn't there and Rising Sun came out and punched us in the mouth." It was the third win for Rising Sun and third loss for Perryville. Farrington led the Tigers with 15 points and added eight rebounds. Alkinburg collected 12 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocks. Juergens and Jesse Shields each scored all of their seven points in the second half. The Panthers only looked in synch for a stretch of the second quarter when they scored 12 straight points to grab a 27-17 lead. Farrington responded with four straight points and the Tigers entered halftime trailing 30-21. With Hollingsworth sitting out to start the third quarter after picking up three first half fouls, Rising Sun embarked on a 12-0 run of its own to take a 33-30 lead. Juergens had four points in that span. Hollingsworth reentered the game and scored three baskets in the final 2:38 of the quarter to provide the Panthers with a 37-35 lead entering the fourth quarter. Perryvillle lengthened its lead to 41-35 before Shields buried a three-pointer. The Panthers were ahead 46-42 with 3:14 left when Shields again connected from beyond the arc. Farrington scored to put the Tigers on top with 1:51 left. Hollingsworth and Alkinburg exchanged baskets before Martz hit one of two free throw attempts. Hollingsworth tied it with 41 seconds remaining on a driving layup. After Rising Sun missed a pair of shots and Johnson was whistled for the offensive foul, Juergens sank the shot the Tigers hope will propel them to a strong finish. "This is huge because I knew and they knew if they put four quarters together and played hard the whole time, and did what they were supposed to do, that we can take anybody on," said Passenant. "Now I think they proved it. I think this is a big breakthrough. I hope we can keep the momentum going into Friday and further into the season." After reflecting on the loss for a couple hours, Givens said the Panthers paid for the inconsistency they have been demonstrating recently. "Overall, we did not play well and consistent during the past three games," he said. "We need to regroup or we will meet our demise. We also hampered our efforts with unprovoked turnovers which plagued us from beginning to end. Lastly, we have some players who have been out of character with their attitude and playing individual basketball, which is untypical from the start of the season, rather than team ball and good, solid defense." The Rising Sun JV boys basketball team topped Perryville 55-29 Tuesday night. Ethan Green collected 13 points, seven rebounds, three blocks, and two steals to lead the Tigers. Andrew Parker provided 10 points. Chris Orr added eight points and five boards. Nate McCullough recorded five points, three rebounds and two steals. Austin Newby chipped in four points, four rebounds and two blocks. Comments are closed.
|
Categories
All
Archives
December 2018
|