Hargrave slips Fishburne

Holding a narrow two-point lead Tuesday night, Hargrave did everything it could to throw it away — but Fishburne couldn’t catch a break.

The Tigers picked up the 53-51 win despite goal tending, bad passes, turnovers and blown defenses in the final minute of play that gave the Caissons every opportunity to tie the VIC quarterfinal matchup.

“It was just tough,” said Fishburne coach Chip Crabill. “We did everything we could to get our guys in open spots. We had a good look at the end; we just came up short.”

Fishburne had led 25-15 at the half, with Glen Franklin racking up 19 points —13 coming in the second quarter. The Caissons couldn’t keep the momentum however, deflating at the start of the third and allowing the Tigers to score 20 points to tie the game heading into the fourth.

“We just didn’t defensively match them for two halves,” Crabill said.

After his impressive first-half performance, Franklin went cold, hitting only four points in the third quarter and the rest of the Caissons struggled to fill the void.

While Fishburne struggled to find points, Hargrave’s Andrew Owusu found his rhythm. He scored nine points in the third, including a momentum changing 3-pointer.

As time ran out, Hargrave tied the game at 35 on a 3-pointer at the buzzer from Ben Amos.

“A two-hour bus ride doesn’t help after a school day [with energy],” said Hargrave coach Tim Oditt. “We knew if the energy level picked up we could wear them down.”

Fishburne did regain its composure in the fourth, not allowing the Tigers to run away with game. With less than a minute to play, the game was tied at 51 when Owusu hit a jumper to give Hargrave the lead.

After a Fishburne turnover, Hargrave almost made it a two-possession game on an Owusu layup, but a goaltending call negated the bucket.

“You pull your hair out and ask, ‘What was he thinking?’, but these are 16 and 17 year olds and they like to make your life a little bit harder,” Oditt said.

With 10.5 seconds left on the clock, Franklin finally got an open shot hoping to tie the game and send it into overtime, but his shot fell short.