This Is What Rivalries Are All About

When Bloomingdale faces Newsome you can throw away the record book. When it is senior night, that is doubly true. Senior night started out with the usual festivities, and the five seniors on the floor began the game brilliantly as Shawn Boone started the game with a couple of baskets, Jake Hodges added a three, Samal Shepherd and Cody Dowd chipped in with a couple of baskets each, and Ron Noble grabbed some rebounds. The junior class soon made its presence known as well as Trent Mackey made some nice shots and the Wolves rocketed to an 18 point lead. At the break, the Wolves led 28-15.

The Bulls were not ready to give up however, as the eight seniors who were visiting the Wolves den for the last time were not about to leave the gym without making a decent showing for their school. Taking advantage of foul trouble that effectively held Samal Shepherd out of half the game, they went on a rampage in the third quarter, outscoring the Wolves 17-7 and closing the gap to 3 points at 35-32. In the fourth quarter the Bulls kept their momentum and pulled past the Wolves early in the period. With a couple of minutes to go in the game, it became apparent the Bulls would try to ride that lead to victory. Hodges picked up his third personal to send Tim Coffey to the line with just over a minute left. After a quick Wolves bucket cut the lead back to one, Dylan Bridges fouled Matt Farnsworth with just under a minute left in regulation. Although both free throws were missed, the Wolves were unable to come up with a bucket, and with 30 seconds left Hodges was forced to commit his fourth foul to send Austin Dixon to the line. Both free throws caromed off the rim, leaving the Wolves with the ball. Gist penetrated and then kicked the ball to Hodges at the three point line, who made a quick slash for a basket to tie the game at 42 with 15 ticks left on the clock. As the Bulls Sharky Feist brought the ball down the left sideline, Gist was able to knock the ball away with his lightning quick hands. Hodges batted the ball back to Gist, who then lobbed it back to Hodges for what could have been the game winning bucket, but Angelo DeCuyler defended vigorously, the shot banged off the rim and no call was made, sending the game into overtime.

The Bulls struck first on a drive by Matt Farnsworth, but Jamel Gist answered right back with a floater in the lane to bring the score back to a 44-44 tie with 2:24 left. On the other end of the floor, Dylan Bridges fouled Farnsworth, who sunk both free throws to put the Bulls up by two. With 1:52 on the clock, Feist fouled Gist, who tied it right back with two foul shots of his own. Both teams missed an opportunity to score and a second overtime was required.

Once again, the Bulls struck first as Ryan Bethoney converted an offensive rebound into a 48-46 lead with 3:01 left in the period. After a rebound on the other end, the Bulls called a timeout to discuss how to run out the remaining 2:25 on the clock. Trent Mackey was having none of it, as he perfectly anticipated a Bethoney pass to Coffey and raced to the other end. Mackey's hotly contested layup would not go in, but Hodges was right there for the rebound. Rather than give up an easy basket, Coffey put him on the floor, resulting in a trip to the line. After making the first, he missed the second, but the Wolves got the ball right back. Mackey drove the lane and dished a quick bounce pass to Jamel Gist, who was promptly fouled by Bethoney. Gist, who was 6 for 7 on the night, made both free throws over a deafening clamor from the Bloomingdale students to give the Wolves a 49-48 lead. After a turnover on the Bulls end of the court, Dixon fouled Bridges, who sunk the first but missed the second for a 50-48 Wolves lead with 28 seconds in the game. The Bulls called for a timeout and set up their final play. Farnsworth drove to the hoop, tightly defended by Hodges and Dowd. When the ball caromed off the rim Mackey grabbed it and hurled it to the other end of the court as the clock expired and the Wolves claimed a 50-48 victory.

For the game, Farnsworth and Coffey led the Bulls in scoring with 22 and 13 points respectively, while the Wolves were led by Hodges, Mackey and Gist with 11, 11, and 10.  www.youtube.com/watch

Comments

 Archived 2007-2008 Basketball page
 Archived 2008-2009 Basketball page