Girls Basketball Coordinator
With
five seconds to go and Fort Wayne North leading Fort Wayne South 72-70,
Southâ??s Tracey Underwood drove in for a potential game-tying bucket and
found his attempt authoritatively swatted by North big man Damarlo
Belcher. The Redskins grabbed the rebound and held on for the win in
the championship game of the Summit Athletic Conference tournament,
74-70.
North
got 32 points from Indiana-bound Eshaunte â??Bearâ? Jones and another 24
from Belcher, the majority of those on put backs. Jones was 11-of-19
from the floor, including hitting five three-pointers in the first half.
Despite
having played a semifinal game just a few hours before, both teams
wanted to run early. South built an early lead at 25-16 following a
lay-in from junior Jermichael
North responded, scoring 13 unanswered to take a 29-25 lead at the
South
regained the lead at 30-29 on a pretty, driving lay-up from junior
Derek Evans. After a three-point play from junior standout Fred Ford
with one second on the clock, the Archers led 37-36 at intermission.
South came fast out of the gates after halftime, though, getting a lay-up and later a pair of free throws from
recruit Juston Hairston. Hairston, however, was curiously absent for
major stretches throughout the game, though the 6â??5â? forward still
contributed 20 points.
The â??Skins led by five, 57-52, heading into the final period.
Holding a six point led with
to go, North sensed that the Archers were running a play designed to
throw an alley-oop to the athletic Hairston. Ford quickly pulled up,
nailing a shot behind the arc. On the next possession, South ran the
backdoor for Hairston who slammed the ball home with
On the other end, Jones sank yet another three, his eighth of the night. The â??Skins led by four.
With
a minute to go and facing a two point deficit, the Archers needed to
put North on the line to have any chance of getting the ball back.
Unfortunately, South had only one team foul.
After
the Redskins moved backwards on a series of inbounds plays, Jones
sprung open into the frontcourt and quickly dished to Belcher for an
easy two.
South
scored six seconds later, then fouled Jones, who missed the front end
of a one-and-one with 14 seconds left. After Belcherâ??s mammoth
rejection, Northâ??s Grayson Wambach missed the front end again, but
senior John Hefty secured the rebound and knocked down two shots for
the â??Skins.
The
tournament title was Northâ??s first since 1986. Last season, the two
teams met in the semifinal with North prevailing 86-84 on a last-second
shot by Jones.
So
what do you think? Share your thoughts in our Girls Basketball forum.
Processing your request, Please wait....
