WS Chronicle

Photo by Timothy Ramsey

BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY 

THE CHRONICLE

To open their junior varsity season, the Reagan Raiders lost an overtime thriller to the Eagles of East Forsyth.  Following their second place finish in the Lash/Chronicle tournament last month, the Raiders want to carry that momentum into the remainder of the season.

The first game between these two teams was a tight one down to the final horn.  This game was no different.  The Eagles seem to have the Raiders’ number as they were able to squeak out another victory by the slimmest of margins, 43-41.

The game started in a peculiar way. After controlling the tipoff, an East Forsyth player unexpectedly scored on the wrong basket and gave the Raiders the easiest two points they’ll score all year.  East opened up with their full court press that seemed to alter the offensive rhythm of the Raiders in the first quarter.

Savon Brintley and Khaliq McCummings came up big for the Eagles in the first quarter by hitting big shots to give them the early lead.  Late in the first quarter, Raider forward Trevor Willard came off the bench and scored six straight points to bring the deficit closer at 14-9 at the end of one.

With all of the problems the Eagles were causing with their full court press, they were not able to capitalize offensively on the Raider miscues, which kept the game close.  Both teams were playing well defensively in the second quarter but with the inside scoring of Willard and Patrick

Travatello, the Eagles only led by 21-19 going into halftime.

“I thought we came out really well early on and got off to a great start,” said East Forsyth head coach Rodney Minor. “We got into one of our little funks and let them fight all the way back.”

At the start of the third quarter, the Eagles were getting many second chance opportunities but failed to convert many of those chances.  Reagan on the other hand stayed with their bread and butter and continued to pound the ball inside for easy buckets.  The Raiders were able to take a slim lead heading into the final quarter at 28-26.

East turned up the heat on defense at the beginning of the final frame and took the lead back from Reagan.  Unfortunately for the Eagles, they had another mental lapse and scored on the wrong basket once again.  Midway through the quarter, the Raiders started hitting midrange jumpers that gave them a comfortable lead down the stretch, or so they thought.

With just over two minutes left in the game and his team trailing, McCummings hit back-to-back three pointers, bringing his team to within two points. McCummings said he knew he had to make those shots and as long as his team kept playing hard they had a chance.  Later on with the game tied, East Forsyth calls timeout with 38 seconds left and possession of the ball.  They turn the ball over, giving Reagan a chance for the go ahead basket but the player misses.

Brintley grabs the rebound from under the rim with 8.6 seconds left and goes coast to coast and scores with a buzzer-beating layup.

“My first thought was to just grab the rebound and push it and once I scored I knew the game was over,” said Brintley of his last-second shot.

Reagan had one last chance with 1.8 seconds left in the game but was unable to get a shot off and East won 43-41.

“We got down early and started slow and I think that made a difference in the outcome because we had to expend so much energy battling back,” said James Stackhouse, Reagan head coach.  “I’m also proud of the way my guys fought back but they stayed focused and in the end we fell one basket short.

The Raiders are 0-2 coming off of the Christmas break.  They fell to Parkland the day before their matchup against East Forsyth.  Coach Stackhouse says he wanted to see how his team responded in their next game and was proud of their effort.

“I have a resilient group of guys, they never give up and they play together,” said Minor.  “I can’t say enough about the guys and I’m very proud of them.  They could have easily hung their head once Reagan fought back but they kept fighting.”