|
Alma - Whoever said “all good things
must come to an end,” obviously played high
school basketball. With an overall record
of 6-0 going into Tuesday night’s match-up,
the Alma Panthers (4-0, 6-1) felt like they
couldn’t lose. But lose they did, when the
H.H. Dow Chargers (0-4, 2-5) came strutting
into Panther Country. The Panthers should
not be ashamed, however, of the 61-60 loss
in overtime. They fought tooth and nail
with the chargers all game long.
The Chargers took the early lead with a
field goal by senior, William Bowser. Dow
continued its drive, scoring three more
field goals leaving the Panthers eight
points back. The Panthers answered back
with a run of baskets, including two field
goals and a three pointer from Charli
Griswold. This left the Panthers with a
five point deficit at the end of the first
quarter.
The second quarter, like much of the game,
was riddled with fouls. Seven fouls for the
Chargers sent the Panthers to the line six
times. The outcome of these 11 shots left a
lot to be desired, as the Panthers made less
than half at the stripe. The Chargers led
the Panthers by four points for the quarter,
leaving the score 29-20 heading into
halftime.
The Panthers emerged from the locker room
with a new vitality and an answer to the
full court press that plagued them in the
first half. The third quarter brought much
of the same action, but with a different
result. The Panthers outscored the Chargers
14-8, closing the gap to only three going
into what would normally be the final eight
minutes of the game.
The fourth
quarter was ladened with fouls and turnovers
causing it to be the lowest scoring quarter
in the game. Both teams pulled out all the
stops in true fourth quarter fashion, with
Alma taking the slight advantage. Jake
Blake sank a bucket for two with 1:17
remaining giving the Panthers their first
lead of the game with a score of 45-47. A
basket by Jonathan Manser tied the game back
up and two successful free throws by Alex
Poznak, put the Chargers in the lea
once again. A pair of free throws by Luke
Hirschman tied the game back up and a free
throw by Danny Wernick sent the Panthers
back into the lead with a score of 49-50.
Alma furthered their lead when Bowser
decided to foul Matt Loomis, sending Loomis
to the line to shoot two. Loomis missed the
first shot but successfully converted the
second one making the score 49-51, Alma’s
advantage, with 13 seconds left on the
clock. A late foul by Loomis left Austin
Robinson on the line and Panther fans
wondering if they shouldn’t have started
warming up their vehicles. The answer to
their thoughts was no, as Robinson sank both
shots to tie the score at 51-51, sending the
game into overtime.
The beginning of the overtime session was
dominated by the Dow Chargers. They scored
eight of the first 10 points leaving Alma
trailing by a score of 59-53. From that
moment, until the last ten seconds, Alma
made a run for the lead and possibly the
win. A 3-pointer from Hirschman, a field
goal by Griswold, followed by two free throw
shots by Loomis left the Panthers with a one
point lead with 12 seconds to go. With the
fans cheering, the Chargers geared up for
their final drive of the game. Manser
passed the ball in to Magno, who brought it
down court and passed it to Bowser, who made
a run for the basket only to be stopped by
Loomis. The Alma crowd was just about to
start cheering when the referee blew his
whistle and charged Loomis with his fifth
and final foul of the game. This left the
game’s fate in the hands of leading scorer
of the game, Bowser. With the fans on their
toes, Bowser shoots his first free throw,
good, tying the game 60-60. The fans were
on their feet again as Bowser lined up for
his second shot. He dribbles, aims, and
shoots. The next sound that was heard was
the sound of the swishing that the net made
as Bowser’s shot went flawlessly throw it.
With the
score now 61-60 Chargers, Alma had one last
chance to become victorious. The ball was
in-bounded to Hirschman, who brought it down
court and handed it off to Lark. Lark saw
an opening and took the shot. The gym was
silent as everyone watched to see what the
ball was going to do. The ball
looked like it had the perfect trajectory
until we heard one of the most dreaded
sounds in basketball, the tink of the rim
when the ball is just slightly
under-thrown.
Defense was one of the keys to this game, as
was evident by the many scuff marks that
were left on the court from players diving
for loose balls. The Dow Charger full court
press left the Panthers wondering what to do
in the first half of the game. The
Panther’s ability to force turnovers in the
second half allowed them to overcome their
deficit. But what the game really came down
to was free throws. The Panther’s shooting
percentage at the line was 55% compared to
the Chargers 75%. Alma’s inability to
convert these shots ultimately led to their
demise.
Despite the loss, the Panthers remain atop
the TV-Central standings over second place
Bullock Creek. The bid for another six game
winning streak will begin Friday night as
Alma hosts the Chesaning Indians.
Some Stats (1/9/07 – Alma vs. Midland Dow)
Alma Panthers
Luke Hirschman: 3
2-3 9 1-3 point field
goal
Danny Wernick: 0
5-9 5
Dom SanMiguel: 1
1-4 3
Luke Kanine: 0
1-2 1
Jake Blake: 3
0-0 6 6 steals, 2
blocks
Matt Loomis: 5
8-13 18
Charli Griswold: 7
0-0 16 2-3 point field
goals
Kyle Lark: 1
0-0 2
Other stats:
19 team fouls
Loomis fouled out
Dow Chargers
William Bowser: 10
4-4 24 Game leading
scorer
Shay Raleigh: 0
2-2 2
Austin Robinson: 4
3-4 12 1-3 point field
goal
David Magno: 1
0-0 2
Jonathan Manser: 2
0-0 4
Tyler Schroll:
1 0-0 2
Alex Poznak: 4
5-8 13
Brad Ostergren: 1
0-1 2
Other stats:
25 team fouls
Robinson and
Schroll fouled out
|
