Schuyler County Takes Boy’s Third At N. Shelby

 Schuyler County Takes Boy’s Third At N. Shelby

By David Sharp
Brashear has won several of their 11 contests so far this season with clutch free throws and by making plays in the closing moments of games.
The Tigers dropped the 21st Annual North Shelby Tournament third place game largely due to missed free throws, and being outscored by Schuyler County 18-5 in the final 4:37 of the game.
Jason Shively tossed in a three point shot with ten seconds to play in the January 24, 2009 contest sending the game to overtime and a 72-62 Ram victory.
Returning Tri-Rivers Conference Boy’s MVP Jacob Winkler scored a game high 25 points with 14 rebounds, four steals and five assists leading the top seeded Rams to victory.
Schuyler County (10-4) did a good job of breaking down the Tiger defense. The Rams failed to cash in on their lay up and inside shot chances frequently.
Both sides missed their share of first half free throws. The contest was very closely played. The Rams held a four point lead at the end of the first quarter. And a 29-27 halftime edge.
The score stood tied at 35 with 5:17 to play in period three. Trae Treasure scored at the 1:45 mark of the third quarter for a 41-39 Tiger lead.
The Rams missed two inside shots as time ran down in the quarter, leaving the game knotted at 43 entering the fourth quarter.
Trae Treasure put Brashear (11-2, ranked eighth in Missouri Boys’ Class 1) on top by two points with free throws seconds into the fourth quarter.
Jacob Winkler keyed a 5-1 Ram run to a 52-46 lead with a three point play. Anthony Ambrosia halved the deficit with a Brashear three point play at the 3:50 mark of quarter four.
Kiley Watson grabbed an offensive rebound and scored, pulling the Tigers back within a 54-53 margin with 1:50 to play in regulation. Matt Thomas forced a held ball. Justin Hazen put the Tigers back on top with two free throws at the 68 second mark of the fourth quarter by a 55-54 score.
Anthony Ambrosia and Kiley Watson hooked up on a steal with 48 seconds remaining in regulation. Anthony Ambrosia sank two clutch free throws, capping an 8-2 Tiger run to a 57-54 lead with 37.2 seconds to play in the period.
Justin Hazen stole the basketball for Brashear with 26 ticks on the fourth quarter clock. It appeared the Tigers were going to pull another one out of the fire. Two missed free throws with 22 seconds remaining in regulation kept the game in reach.
Jacob Winkler missed a three pointer for the tie. The Rams grabbed the long rebound. Jason Shively was open and found the net with ten seconds left in the fourth quarter.
The game was tied at 57. Brashear could not get the potential game winner and the contest went to overtime.
Schuyler County made the plays this night in overtime. Brashear took an earlier match up between the teams by a 55-54 margin in overtime, winning the game in the last seven seconds.
Jacob Winkler and Tim Gorman scored for Schuyler County on the first two Ram overtime possessions. Christian Cunningham energized the Ram fans when he blocked a Tiger shot. Matt Thomas answered for Brashear with 2:18 showing on the clock.
Schuyler County led 61-59. Tim Gorman sank two more Ram free throws at the 1:46 mark. Kiley Watson buried a Tiger charity toss six seconds hence for a 67-60 Ram lead.
Schuyler County extended their lead to 72-60 in the closing moments. Kiley Watson closed the book with ten seconds to go in overtime. The Rams won the battle of the boards 39-33. Schuyler County grabbed 20 offensive rebounds to 11 for Brashear.
Brashear turned the ball over 19 times coupled with 13 Ram steals. Schuyler County had 17 turnovers with seven Tiger steals for a 32-24 Schuyler County advantage in the turnover/steal ratio.
Schuyler County had 16 more shots as a result. The Rams shot 48% from the field to 46% for the Tigers. Schuyler County nearly squandered their shot edge at the three point line, sinking 3-16 (19%) from three point range. Brashear failed to answer from the arc, going 0-2 on the night.
The winning team sank 15 of 20 free throws for 75%. Brashear went 16-27 from the charity stripe for 59%. “We just didn’t put the ball in the hole when we needed to,” said Brashear coach Don Wilburn.
“Two of the keys to the game was that they shot 75% from the free throw line and on the offensive boards,” said Wilburn. “We just did not block them out. They got 20 offensive boards. You just can’t win ball games giving up 20 offensive boards.”
Tim Gorman poured in 24 Schuyler County points with eight rebounds and five steals. Justin Shively was next in line with nine Ram points. Justin Shively sank all three home run balls hit in the game in six tries.
“We hit that outside shot at the end,” said Ram coach Kyle Windy. “They didn’t hit their free throws at the end of the game and let us get back. Once we got the lead we kept putting the pressure on them. We executed a little bit better down the stretch.”
“If we had made our bunnies, we would probably not have been in that situation,” said Coach Windy of the Ram’s missed inside scoring chances. “No one wants to play in a third place game. It’s all about pride and effort.”
Kiley Watson led Brashear with 18 points and ten rebounds. Trae Treasure recorded another Tiger double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Anthony Ambrosia was in double figures with 12 Tiger points.
Justin Hazen scored six points. Matt Thomas and Ryan Ferdig scored five points each. Matt Thomas tied Jacob Winkler for game assist honors with five dishes.