Fantastic finishes
Published 2:24 pm Thursday, January 10, 2008
It’s pretty rare to see a basketball game decided by a buzzer-beating shot. Sometimes I go an entire season without witnessing one.
That’s why Tuesday night was so special. Four Western Conference boys and girls games came down to a buzzer-beater or a last-second basket. Here’s a quick recap of the close clashes, starting with the contest I was at:
*Zach Wilde’s buzzer-beating putback gave the Snohomish boys a 53-52 victory over Lake Stevens.
*Mary Ochiltree’s buzzer-beating, off-balance 3-point shot lifted the Lake Stevens girls past Snohomish, 44-41.
*Meadowdale’s Evan Matteson made a jump shot with 1 second to go in the Mavericks’ 50-48 boys triumph against Kamiak.
*David Sullivan’s putback at the end of the second overtime period gave the Jackson boys a crazy 95-93 win versus Shorewood.
A few other amazing things stand out about these suspenseful games.
First, Shorewood’s Stuart Harvey exploded for a school-record 54 points in his team’s loss against Jackson. None of Harvey’s points came on 3-pointers. The senior guard came into the game with a previous single-game high of 20 points and a scoring average of 11.2 points.
Also, all four down-to-the-wire Wesco games ended with anguish for the home crowds. The visiting team prevailed in every one.
Tonight I’ll be in Mill Creek for the Edmonds-Woodway vs. Jackson boys game. Can a youthful but gradually improving Jackson team (5-2 Wesco South, 6-5 overall) pull off its biggest victory yet against a surging, experienced E-W squad (6-1, 9-2)?
