HARRISBURG – Most one-point, nail-biting games are usually decided by a buzzer-beating 3-point shot, a coast-to-coast layup, great defense causing a missed shot, or maybe even a steal.
On Wednesday night, the Hickory Ridge boys basketball team beat Concord, 66-65, thanks to an offensive rebound after a missed free throw. Yep, you read that right - an offensive rebound won the game.
With four seconds left, Hickory Ridge’s Kobe Clifton was at the free-throw line with his team up, 66-65, having missed a free throw eight seconds earlier. And again, he missed it. Fortunately, for Clifton, his teammate, Tyler Fearne, snagged the rebound and was immediately fouled. With two seconds left, Fearne had two free throws.
Fearne missed the first one. His second shot bounced off the rim, and Clifton, from the left side of the basket, redeemed himself by grabbing the ball away from a Spider. The clock ran out, and the game was over.
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“I thought, ‘I’ve got to muscle up, get the rebound, and that’ll be it,’” Clifton said. “I jumped as high as I could and used a little bit of muscle to get it.”
Although the two offensive rebounds stopped Concord from hitting a game-winning shot, the Spiders had a chance earlier to do just that earlier.
Up 66-58 with fewer than 1 minute, 30 seconds left, the Ragin' Bulls messed up three inbounds plays in a row. The Spiders converted four points off those miscues, and then Concord’s Jordan Stowe drove through traffic and hit an “and-1” layup with 18 seconds left to make it a 66-65 game after sinking the free throw.
After a Concord foul, Hickory Ridge missed the following free throw, and Stowe had the ball with Concord down one point with 12 seconds left. He drove the length of the court, but he was called for a travel near the lane after attempting a spin move with one too many steps.
“We were going to call a timeout, but we decided to let (Jordan Stowe) go and attack the basket,” said Concord coach Jason Stowe. “But they played good defense and caused the turnover.”
The 66-65 score was the fourth straight meeting between these two schools that ended within one possession, but it didn’t seem like it was going to end that way after the first half.
Concord was on fire offensively in the first half. They were 5-for-8 from behind the arc, and in the second quarter, they hit an astonishing nine of 13 field goals, excluding a missed half-court heave before halftime. Hickory Ridge went into halftime down, 41-29, and appeared completely lost defensively.
In the locker room, Hickory Ridge coach Robert Machado said an assistant coach advised him to switch from man-to-man to a zone defense. Machado took the advice and made the change. It changed everything.
In the third quarter, Concord had a lead as big as 14 points. At the end of the third quarter, the Spiders found themselves down four points. Most notably, the Spiders allowed a 12-0 run where they missed seven straight shots, including four from, beyond the arc. In that quarter, they went 0-for-6 from 3-point range and 3-of-16 from the field.
“It cut down on some of the driving lanes they had in the first half,” Machado said of the Hickory Ridge defense. “They were driving, kick, driving, kick, and they got a lot of those. That was the biggest difference (in the halves), just our defensive ability to get stops.”
Playing man-to-man in the first half, the Bulls gave up 41 points. In the second half, they gave up only 24. Not to mention the fact that the zone defense created transition breaks and easy layups to mount a comeback.
“The zone allowed us to rebound it easier,” Machado said. “We had two guys at the top of the zone running outlets, and we were getting easy buckets and attacking the rim.”
The win gives Hickory Ridge its third straight win and a 3-2 record. The loss puts Concord at 3-3 on the season.
Daniel Lubamba led Hickory Ridge with 19 points, followed by Michael Bagnasco with 13 points.
Jalen O’Neal scored 17 points, and JoJo Bond had 14 points. Jordan Stowe added 13 points.
SCORING SUMMARY
Concord 21 20 6 18 -- 65
Hickory Ridge 14 15 22 15 -- 66
CONCORD -- Jalen O’Neal 17, JoJo Bond 14, Jordan Stowe 13, Javian Cannady 10, Mason 9, Lippard 2
HICKORY RIDGE -- Daniel Lubamba 19, Michael Bagnasco 13, Minlend 8, Clifton 7, Fearne 7, Talley 4, Audrey 4, Marsh 4