By BEN MCCARTY
News staff writer
February 12, 2008
No one can say the Hood River Valley boys
basketball team is not making its games exciting.
The Eagles pulled out their second conference
win of the season with a 44-41 overtime victory over Sandy on
Tuesday and then lost a 52-51 heart- breaker to Reynolds on
Thursday.
Against Sandy, the Eagles led by eight with just
over a minute to play. The Pioneers started fouling to get the
Eagles to free-throw line, and HRV was unable to convert. The
Eagles shot five free-throws in the final minute and missed four
of them. Meanwhile, Sandy used three-pointers and slashing
drives to the hoop to get right back in it.
The Pioneers took a 36-35 with 19 seconds to
play on a jumper by Tommy D’Aboy, but A.J. Olson, who scored all
six of his points in the fourth quarter, calmly buried a short
jumper and converted a free- throw to give the Eagles a
two-point lead with 12 seconds left. However, Sandy’s Kevin
Trosko was left wide open as Sandy brought the ball up the floor
and laid the ball in at the buzzer to force overtime.
The game had been a struggle offensively for
both teams, and after a first half that saw Sandy leading 18-12,
the second half and the overtime did not do much to improve
things.
HRV pulled ahead to stay with 55 seconds to play
when Keanu Webb rebounded a missed three-point try by Tyler
Williams and put it in for a 42-41 lead for HRV.
On the next Sandy possession, Paul Widmer took
the ball to the hoop but was called for charging when he sent
Adam Williams sprawling to the floor.
Tyler Williams drew a foul on the Eagles’ next
trip down the floor and hit two free-throws to put the Eagles up
by three. Sandy had one more chance after Williams missed a pair
of free- throws in the final seconds, but a three-point attempt
by Widmer came up short at the buzzer.
It may not have been pretty, but Eagles coach
Zach Pauls was glad to get the win.
“A win’s a win,” he said. “I’ll take an ugly win
any day.”
With point guard Shay Huskey fouled out for the
entire overtime period and several others in foul trouble,
several players stepped up to fill the gap.
Pauls credited both Jordan Bryant and Thomas
Nickel for providing a spark on defense and Olson almost
singlehandedly put the Eagles in position to win the game in the
fourth quarter.
After the Pioneers rallied in the final seconds
only to lose the game, it was the Eagles who found themselves in
the same position against Reynolds on Thursday.
Neither team could get much going offensively
throughout the game, and after leading by one at the half, the
Eagles found themselves down by one heading into the fourth
quarter.
The Eagles trailed by eight with just under five
minutes to play, but began to fight back after Travis Carratt
hit a three-pointer to get within five.
Moments later, Huskey stole a Sandy pass and
layed it in, and Travis Williams came up with another steal on
Sandy’s next possession and hit both free- throws after drawing
a flagrant foul.
A pair of Andy Kennedy free- throws pulled the
Eagles to within three, and Nickel stole the Sandy inbounds pass
and laid it in to pull within one.
After Joseph Scarpelli hit a pair of free-throws
for Reynolds, Andy Kennedy hit a lay-up and drew a foul on the
Eagles’ next possession. The ensuing free throw tied the game.
After Reynolds failed repeatedly to move the
ball up the floor in the final seconds, Scarpelli was finally
able to drive up the floor and drew a reaching foul against
Husky, who was attempting to knock the ball out.
Scarpelli hit both free-throws and the Eagles
took a timeout to draw up a play with 3.8 seconds remaining.
Adam Williams took the inbounds pass and raced up the court,
heaving up a half-court three-pointer at the buzzer that bounced
high off the backboard. As Reynolds players began to celebrate,
whistles blew, pulling everyone back on to the court. Scarpelli,
who had just put the Raiders in position to win the game, had
now put them in a position to lose it by fouling Williams.
Williams missed the first and then hit the
second. His final attempt rattled around the rim before bouncing
out, sending him slumping to the court.
“It’s not the one free-throw that lost it,” the
Eagles’ Travis Carratt said afterward. “It’s the turnovers and
the missed free-throws before that. We just need to maximize
what we can control.”
The Eagles now have a week off before playing at
Centennial and Central Catholic next week.
