Clark's last-second heroics complete comeback for Hornets
For the first 16 minutes, the Rogersville Wildcats (9-13) were doing everything necessary to protect their home floor on Monday night. Unfortunately for head coach Rod Gorman's squad, Hillcrest (9-15) needed just one quarter of play and a wild five seconds at the end of regulation to ultimately spell the difference in a 54-51 Hillcrest victory.
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Down by a score of 27-20 at halftime, the valiant Hornets found the “on” switch – stringing together an 18-2 run out of the locker room to eventually take a nine-point advantage in a third period in which Hillcrest allowed just seven points.
“Any time you guard like that, you get a really good chance to win,” Hillcrest head coach Joel Brown said about his team's effort in the third period. “I kept telling them to not swing for the fence. We had to break it down into situations and possessions – one stop, one score. That was kind of our mentality.”
The Wildcats, however, managed to put together a comeback bid of their own and found themselves in a seesaw battle down the stretch.
Then things got a little wacky.
With the score tied at 51 and precious seconds ticking down in the final moments of the fourth quarter, Hillcrest junior Shahn Clark found himself guarding senior Rogersville star Marcus Gorman as he dribbled the ball toward the frontcourt, planning for a last-second shot to capture a district playoff win.
Knowing Rogersville was planning to leave no time for an offensive opportunity by Hillcrest, Clark took it upon himself to cause some chaos – going for a steal at mid-court with five seconds remaining.
“I knew they were going to come down and try to score,” Clark said. “We had to make something happen or either they would win or we go into overtime. Earlier in the game, I got the same steal in the same situation so I tried it again.”
The gamble paid off as Clark swatted the ball away from Gorman – leaving an open lane for the talented junior to take over possession, scurry to the basket and put it through while drawing a foul with 1.1 seconds to go.
The clutch and-1 chance sent Clark and his bench into a frenzy, knowing that the sudden turn of events all but sealed the deal for the Hornets.
“I'm really glad it came down to that,” said Brown. “Sometimes you get lucky and the ball bounces your way. That time, it did.”
Moments after Clark successfully completed the three-point play, a desperation heave by Rogersville's Matt McHenry from long range begged wide left at the buzzer – officially sending Brown's team into the district semifinals and ending the Wildcats' season in heartbreaking fashion.
“You can't just look at that one play,” Rogersville coach Rod Gorman said after the loss. “You know Marcus [Gorman] feels awful, but it was a hard-fought game. It came down to one play and they made it. I hate it for our kids, it's a tough way to lose.”
Hillcrest advances to face Glendale on Thursday.
Box Score
Hillcrest – 5 15 21 13 – 54
Rogersville – 14 13 7 17 – 51
Hillcrest – Shahn Clark 20, Cole Pryor 10, Tim Washington 7, Hezekiah Dude 5, Jaydun Sydnor 5, Brenden Weaver 3, Tyem Freeman 3, Sam Terry 1
Rogersville – Marcus Gorman 14, Christian Brown 14, Andrew Scott 10, Matt McHenry 7, Luke Vandersnick 2, Evan Whetstone 2, Jake Crosby 2
Bader, Aurora once again prove too much for Reeds Spring
For the second time in less than three months, the Aurora Houn Dawgs (19-7) rode the hot hand of senior forward Logan Bader to a win over Reeds Spring (15-10) – this time ending the Wolves' 2015-16 season in the first round of Class 4 – District 11 play on Monday.
Bader, listed at 6-foot-5, dominated on the offensive end from start to finish – racking up a game-high 27 points to lead his team to a 59-47 victory.
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“He's a matchup problem for a lot of people because he can shoot it and he can play inside and outside,” Reeds Spring coach Barry Yocom said of Bader. “He's a heck of a player and he had a great night, so hats off to him.”
After thrashing the Wolves by a 69-37 margin back on Dec. 8, Aurora had to settle for a much more modest win this time around, thanks to a Reeds Spring offensive rebounding performance that gave Aurora fits for 32 minutes.
Thankfully for the Houn Dawgs, Bader acted as an effective neutralizer on the other side of the court.
“It wasn't pretty,” said Aurora coach Daniel Cutbirth on the win. “They killed us on the offensive glass, but that being said, I felt like we did a pretty good job of executing in the half-court set as far as getting Logan [Bader] the ball in scoring position.”
Bader was a poster child for scoring consistency throughout the contest – netting at least two field goals in each quarter while collecting nine points in both the first and fourth frames.
Near the end of the game, the athletic senior dazzled the crowd with another one of his eye-popping skills – getting a nice feed from his teammate and leaping in the air for an exclamation point slam dunk.
“He's very multi-purpose, I guess you could say,” added Cutbirth in reference to Bader. “But the big thing is, and he would be the first to tell you, he has some really good teammates that really set him up. That's what we had tonight, we had a lot of good assist guys.”
Sophomore forward Austin Bradfield led all Reeds Spring players in scoring with 12 points in the loss. With the win, Aurora advances to play West Plains on Thursday.
Box Score
Reeds Spring – 12 16 10 9 – 47
Aurora – 17 15 14 13 – 59
Reeds Spring – Austin Bradfield 12, Adam Taylor 10, Jarod Cole 9, Joel Gertson 6, Lane Carroll 5, Ransom Allphin 2, Reno Randle 2, Logen Plumb 1
Aurora – Logan Bader 27, Josh Fronabarger 11, Mason Hussman 7, Preston Naylor 4, Austin Carmichael 4, Devon Hilton 4, Matthew Miller 2
