The Shadow
In tonight’s Varsity matchup against the Radford Bobcats, the Alleghany Cougars fell just short of the victory in a last minute —no— last second upset, 50-48. In a matchup where I had to remind myself, I was there to work and not play, the Varsity Cougars had fans leaping for joy in the remaining 5 minutes of the game, wondering if the long-awaited win might just happen and it nearly did. But not quite.
Things started out fairly well for the Cougars in the first quarter, though it was slow moving for both teams. Radford was first to put points on the board, nailing a three-pointer and getting off to an early lead against Alleghany. Speaking of three-pointers, the Radford Bobcats and 3-point shots went as well together as peanut butter and jelly. Alleghany, on the other hand, struggled to put in 3s, with Anthony Webb sinking the only one of the night for the Cougars.
Even still, Alleghany went into the second quarter trailing by only a three-point margin: 7-10. That would quickly change. After sinking two 3-pointers in the first quarter, Radford came back in the second and nailed six more! At the end of the second, Radford was in front 29-17.
If anything was going to keep Alleghany alive in this game, it was going to be sticking to the fundamentals. Let Radford hold to their apparent game plan of landing three’s; meanwhile, Alleghany could turn things up on defense, particularly watching that 3-point line where Radford scored 60% of their points in the first quarter and roughly 95% in the second. Not to mention, Alleghany could focus their offense on layups and easy twos to increase their chances of putting points on the board.
Coach Seth Bradley seemed to be thinking the same thing, as the Alleghany Cougars exited the locker room a brand-new team in the third quarter. It looked as though the game plan was indeed to stick to layups and drive the ball down the middle of the key. By the end of the third quarter, Alleghany had closed the gap from a 12-point deficit to a 9-point deficit, trailing the Bobcats 34-43 going into the final quarter. As for 3’s, the Cougars held Radford to just 2. Still, that meant about 43% of Radford’s points were the result of 3-pointers. Alleghany would have to stop those 3-pointers to stay in it. Let’s not forget, however, that the Cougars doubled —yes, doubled— their points in the third quarter. That’s a tremendous feat for anyone!
Then, things got intense! Christopher Harden, Purcel Turner, and Hunter DePriest became “Triple Trouble” on the court, sinking shot after shot between the three of them and driving up Alleghany’s score late in the game. The Bobcats were suddenly the ones struggling to put points on the board. With 2:14 left on the clock, the Cougars had made it a one-point-game, trailing 45-44. Almost immediately, Christopher Harden put up two more points. For the first time in the game, Alleghany was leading the Bobcats 46-44!
One foul —consisting of two foul shots— later, Radford tied the game: 46 all. Three more foul shots later and they were back in the lead 49-46. Harden would answer back with another 2, putting it at 49-48 with 10.6 seconds left. That’s about when things got interesting. With .3 seconds remaining, one player fouled another, putting a halt on the game. Who? Even the crowd was confused. We waited as both coaches pled their cases with the three referees over the game, but it would ultimately lead to the end of the line after a hard-fought battle for the Alleghany Cougars, as the foul was ruled against them and Radford stood up to the free-throw line to take their last shot.
It went through.
50-48. All Hunter DePriest could do with that final .3 seconds was toss the ball down the court and hope it was caught and sunk by one of his fellow players. It was an impossible task, but he had to try.
When the buzzer rang that one final time, every Cougar heart in that gym broke just a little. Not because the game was lost, but because we knew how badly they wanted to win it. Watching it slip through their fingers was a tough pill to swallow.
At the same time, so much can be learned from tonight’s game and I’m sure Coach Bradley is already considering how best to approach those lessons for their next practice. Not to mention how best to put those lessons in motion for the next game.
As for the Varsity Cougars: hold your heads high! You inspired us all with your tenacity, ferocity, and unwavering determination.
Job well done, Cougars. Job well done.
Individual Scoring:
Harden 16, Turner 10, H. DePriest 7, Caldwell 5, Jordan 3, Webb 3, Entsminger 2, Hayslett 2
