Southern
Sports & Travel
In
today’s game some things get overlooked. With the evolution of the dunk and the
3-point shot the little things that wind up making the biggest differences in
wins or losses don’t get noticed.
With
time winding down in the first quarter of Central Private’s 22-20 win over
Brookhaven on Saturday the Rebels looked to be reeling after scoring just six
points and there was a buzz in the John R Gray Gymnasium that an upset could be
in the making after the Cougars had just put together a 12-3 run to take a 12-6
lead but one of those overlooked, sometimes insignificant, things occurred.
(Above) Central Private's Liam Thomas gets a piece of a Will Hickman (#14) shot
With
only a few seconds left in the quarter Central Private point guard Jaydyn Cohen
took an in-bounds pass from the Brookhaven end of the floor and hurled up a 70
foot shot that banked in at the buzzer to trim the lead to 12-9 heading into
the second quarter.
That
shot would prove to be the difference in which team earned the all-important
top seed from the south heading into next week’s Class AA State Championship Tournament.
Saturday’s
game had all the trappings of a state finals contest. The intensity was fierce
and the atmosphere was electric and as usual with championship games held at
Brookhaven the house was packed and vocal.
Central
Private grabbed possession off the opening tip and wasted little time in
attacking the Brookhaven defense but weren’t successful in converting.
Brookhaven
did what was expected of them on their first possession as the Cougars set up
their halfcourt offense and worked the ball around like a well-oiled machine
looking for weaknesses in the Central Private zone defense.
Brookhaven’s
first possession lasted over four minutes before a missed shot was hauled in by
Central Private who quickly notched the first points of the game as senior
guard Simpson Anderson drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 3:31
remaining in the opening quarter to give the Rebels a 3-0 lead.
Central
Private forced a Brookhaven turnover but were assessed a technical when center
Liam Thomas missed a dunk and hung on the rim.
Zac
Smith would convert both free throws to get the Cougars on the board at the 3:11
mark of the quarter.
Brookhaven
took their first lead of the game at 4-3 on a Peyton Hood basket in the paint and
the Cougars quickly upped their advantage to 10-3 on consecutive 3-pointers
from Gage Posey at the 2:17 mark and Zac Smith with 1:03 left in the quarter.
Central
Private then got a critical bucket from Jaydyn Cohen who sank a 3-pointer from
the top of the key to trim the deficit to 10-6 with 49 seconds to go but
Brookhaven seemed to have gotten the edge as the quarter was winding down as
Will Hickman hit two free throws to close out a 12-3 Cougar run and push the
Brookhaven lead back to 12-6 but Cohen took the in-bounds pass and let it go
from 70 feet and it banked home which received a huge gasp from the Brookhaven
supporters and a wild reaction from the Central Private side.
That
rare shot to cut the Brookhaven lead to 12-9 would be ever so important in the
outcome of a game with such high stakes.
Brookhaven
continued in the second quarter in attacking the Central Private zone and
Peyton Hood would find a gap in the paint for a basket just fifteen seconds
into the quarter to increase the Cougar lead to 14-9.
Simpson
Anderson answered with a 16 foot jumper but Brookhaven returned the call as Will
Hickman hit from 18 feet as the Cougars maintained a five point lead at 16-11
with 6:44 to go in the half.
Central
Private would capitalize on a Brookhaven turnover as Syrshawn Fitch served up
an assist to Liam Thomas on a transition bucket to pull the Rebels to within
three points at 16-13.
Gage
Posey’s offensive rebound and put back quickly pushed the Cougar advantage back
to five points at 18-13 but Central Private would close the half strong.
(Above) Brookhaven's Gage Posey launches a 3-pointer in the first half
Simpson
Anderson’s offensive rebound and score got the Rebels to within three points
once again at 18-15 with 3:44 remaining and the senior nailed a deep 3-pointer
from the wing to tie the contest at 18-18 to close out the scoring in the half.
The
second half of play would be in stark contrast to the first after Central
Private quickly took their first lead since the 3:11 mark of the first quarter.
Jaydyn
Cohen drained a 17 foot jumper twenty seconds into the third quarter and
Simpson Anderson’s steal at mid-court and thunderous slam dunk forced a
Brookhaven time-out with the Rebels holding a 22-18 lead with 6:32 remaining in
the quarter.
Brookhaven
took their ensuing possession and went into the stall game and held possession
until missing a shot with 2 seconds remaining to close the quarter looking at a
22-18 deficit but the Cougars would get the first possession of the fourth
quarter.
The
stall tactic continued as Brookhaven was content to wind the game clock down
and Central Private appeared to as content as the Rebels laid back in their
zone but cautiously.
Chants
from both sides of the John R Gray Gymnasium were the main attraction for
upwards of the next five minutes but as the clock reached the 2:40 mark
Brookhaven head coach Dale Watts barked out instructions getting the offense in
attack mode but a critical mistake was made as the Cougars turned the ball over
with 1:48 remaining.
It
was Central Private’s turn to spread the court but they weren’t as effective in
burning off much time as Gage Posey picked off an errant pass near mid-court
and scored on a lay-in to pull Brookhaven to 22-20 and brought the Brookhaven
crowd to its’ feet with 1:12 remaining in regulation.
The
tension was as high as if it were the Overall Finals and that tension reached
its’ highest point when Central Private committed another turnover, this time
with 36 seconds remaining, while clinging to a 22-20 lead.
Brookhaven
burned twenty three seconds off the clock before calling a time-out at the 13
seconds mark to set up a game winning effort.
With
time winding down it was obvious Brookhaven was going for the win as they feverishly
worked the ball for an open look from beyond the 3-point line but as seconds
wound down Gage Posey launched a 3-point attempt from the left wing that was on
line but hit the front rim as time expired and Central Private players and fans
erupted in jubilation.
“This
was a huge win for our team,” said Central Private senior Simpson Anderson. “It
was also a big win for me personally after our loss to them at south state two
years ago.”
On
what the instructions were during the timeout before Brookhaven’s last shot
attempt Anderson said, “We felt like it would be Posey taking that shot because
he’s been playing so well, we were ready and aware of where he was the entire
time on that last play.”
Central
Private (24-3) was led by Simpson Anderson who was the only player in double
digits with 12 points, Jaydyn Cohen added 8 and Liam Thomas 2.
Gage
Posey led Brookhaven 7 points, Zac Smith added 5 and Will Hickman and Peyton
Hood had 4 each.
Central
Private will enter next week’s state tournament as the top seed form the south
and will play fourth seeded Oak Hill on Wednesday.
Brookhaven
(24-12) will take on tournament host Canton on Tuesday.
Post Game with Central Private Head Coach Henry Gantz
.
Note: My apologies for the poor quality of the Simpson Anderson dunk.
