Down by 8 points mid-way into the fourth quarter to the host Greenbrier West Cavaliers, the Webster County Highlanders staged a dramatic comeback to win 67 to 65 Friday evening.
Fans for both schools were on the edge of their seats throughout the game, as the teams traded leads numerous times. Thanks to a buzzer beating shot by the Cavaliers, Greenbrier West led at the end of the first quarter 15 to 14.
West outscored Webster 14 to 12 in the second quarter to take a 29 to 26 lead into halftime. Mid-way into the third quarter, the Highlanders jumped ahead by 4 points, only to see that lead quickly evaporate as West led at the end of the third quarter 48 to 43.
In the fourth quarter, Webster quickly fell behind by 8 points at 57 to 49 with 4:41 remaining in the game. Then the rally began (the video accompanying this article shows the rally after Webster went down by 8 points).
Junior Dalton Davis hit a 12 foot shot for 2 and senior Tyler Anderson drilled a 3 point shot to quickly cut the West lead to 57 to 54. Then, with 3:40 remaining, Senior Brett Morris tipped in a missed free throw attempt by Davis and was fouled on the play. Morris made the free throw to tie the game at 57.
West edged ahead 61 to 58. Morris has a lot of slam dunks this season but none was more important than his slam dunk which drew Webster to within 1 at 61 to 60. He was fouled during the dunk and made the ensuing free throw to tie the game at 61. After West went ahead 63 to 61, Morris found senior Hunter Given under the basket for 2 to tie the game at 63 with 2:41 remaining.
West made a free throw to lead 64 to 63 when Morris drilled a fade away jumper to give Webster a 65 to 64 lead. West tied the game with a free throw. Davis made a free throw for Webster and the Highlanders were back on top at 66 to 65 with less than a minute remaining in the game. After West missed a shot, Webster tried to run the clock out, but West fouled Morris. Morris made one of two free throws, giving Webster the 67 to 65 lead.
With 6.6 seconds remaining, West had possession of the ball at mid-court. They quickly in-bounded the ball and launched a 3 point shot for the win, but it missed its mark and Given grabbed the game's most important rebound and ran off the last ticks of the clock for the dramatic come from behind win for the Highlanders.
After the game, an obviously worn out head coach Jerry Dean said that West "was a good challenge for us." Regarding the Highlanders' fourth quarter comeback, Dean said of his kids, "they gutted it out. I'm proud of our kids. They really played hard tonight."
Morris finished with 27 points, 7 blocked shots, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Davis dropped in 9 points, along with 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 blocked shot. Given also added 9 points, along with 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 assists.
Other Webster players on the game stat sheet include: Robbie Cogar, 7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist; Jake Thayer, 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal; Hunter Williams, 4 points, 2 rebounds; Tyler Anderson, 3 points; Guy Cowger, 2 points, 4 steals, 3 assists, 1 rebound; Drew Green, 1 steal; and Logan Taylor, 1 steal.
As a team, Webster made 26 of 62 shots (41%), including 6 of 22 three point shots (27%). The foul line continued to give Webster trouble as they made only 9 of 16 free throws (56%).
Webster improved to 14 wins, 3 losses on the season. West fell to 14 wins, 5 losses on their season. Webster next travels to Pikeview (near Princeton) for a rematch on Monday evening, February 18, 2013. On Tuesday, the Highlanders return home to play Shady Spring, followed by the final regular season game against Midland Trail on Thursday at Upperglade.
whoever does their stats cant be right because that cowger boy had way more assists than that
ReplyDeleteI've heard that complaint before regarding another player; fact is, the assist is the hardest stat to judge; unlike who scored a point or grabbed a rebound, the assist is subjective; not every pass that eventually leads to a score is an assist; "In basketball, an assist is attributed to a player who passes the ball to a teammate in a way that leads to a score by field goal, meaning that he or she was "assisting" in the basket. There is some judgment involved in deciding whether a passer should be credited with an assist. An assist can be scored for the passer even if the player who receives the pass makes a basket after dribbling the ball. However, the original definition of an assist did not include such situations." The lady who does the stats for the Commentator does an outstanding job; a job no one else apparently wants to do. If you know of specific instances where an assist occurred, point it out and I'll check the film against the play by play stat chart.
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