Eagles win in 3 OT’s
Published 12:00 am Monday, February 16, 2004
LASKER – Senior Night was one for the record books, as six Northeast Academy Eagles scored in double figures as they handed Hobgood a 71-68 loss in triple overtime Friday.
&uot;Both teams never quit,&uot; said Eagles coach John Brown.
&uot;They left everything out on the floor.&uot;
The Eagles lone senior, Hunter Harrell, had the first score of the game, hitting a field goal to put Northeast up 2-0.
Rich Edwards hit 2-for-2 from the line to up the lead to four.
Luke Whitehead converted on a 3-point play to bring Hobgood within one, 4-3.
Lance Jenkins hit an Eagles deuce, and Whitehead answered to keep the Raiders within one, 6-5.
Harrell sank an Edwards’ pass from behind the arc and Brian McLean put back an offensive rebound to put the Eagles up 13-7.
Edwards closed out the Eagles scoring in the quarter, hitting a trey to put Northeast up 16-9.
The Eagles’ Tyler Davis hit a three-pointer, the first of a season-high 10-point performance, but Jacob Barnes answered with his own trey, bringing the score 24-17.
The Raiders scored six to close out the quarter within three (26-23).
Buddy Duke hit his first of three treys to start the third quarter, but a Josey three-point play and Joey Nichols field goal pulled the Raiders within one, 29-28.
A Duke jumper was answered by a basket from Nichols.
McLean scored on the inbounds from Duke to start a drive, which saw the Eagles outscore Hobgood 9-4 to take a 40-34 lead into the fourth quarter.
Jenkins took a McLean pass to the basket to start the final quarter of regulation.
Hobgood hit three field goals to bring the score 45-43.
McLean hit two foul shots and put back an offensive rebound for the basket to pull the Eagles ahead, 49-45.
Lanier hit a 3-pointer and deuce to give Hobgood their first lead of the game, 50-49, with two minutes remaining.
Harrell put the Eagles back on top with a field goal, but Whitehead sank a free throw to tie the score, 51-all.
Davis hit a bucket to put the Eagles up 53-51 with 1:16 left to play.
Joey Nichols’s bucket with less than one minute tied the score at 53, and sent the game into overtime.
Northeast had the first points of overtime, as Davis and Jenkins hit back-to-back shots and Harrell added a free throw, giving the Eagles a 58-53 lead.
Josey converted on a three-point play to bring the Raiders within two (58-56) with 25 seconds remaining in overtime.
Josey hit a basket at the buzzer to send the game into double overtime, with the score tied 58-all.
Baskets by Whitehead and Nichols put the Raiders up 62-60 with 1:30 remaining in the second overtime.
Harrell shot 2-for-2 from the line to tie the score at 62, but Matthew Hux hit both foul shots to give the Raiders a 64-62 lead with 40 seconds remaining.
A Hobgood foul sent Edwards to the line with 13 seconds remaining, and he sank both shots to tie the score at 64-all and send the game into triple overtime.
A Duke field goal put the Eagles up 66-64.
Hux answered with his own bucket to tie the score at 66.
A Davis free throw put the Eagles up for good, 67-66.
Nichols hit a basket to pull the Raiders to within one, 69-68 with just under one minute remaining.
Davis shot 2-for-2 from the line with 30 seconds left to secure the Northeast win, 71-68.
&uot;I can’t think of a better way to go out in my last home game,&uot; said Harrell.
&uot;They (the team) held their own while I set out the second quarter.
This means next year, they’ll be able to do it without me.&uot;
&uot;We couldn’t have done it without the fans,&uot; added Harrell.
&uot;It was a great win.
Our backs were against the wall because we were down 0-2 in the conference and had to get two tough wins.&uot;, said Brown, referring to Tuesday’s win over Halifax Academy.
&uot;Buddy carried us tonight.
He did good things on offense and defensively held Nichols down,&uot; continued Brown.
&uot;Tyler came in and really held his own.
He had to play a lot of minutes and he stepped up and made some tough shots.&uot;
In Junior Varsity action, the Eagles were handed a 35-23 loss.
Ryan Davis had nine and Drew Pinnix seven.
Hobgood’s David Vanderford scored 14 points and Jordan Pendleton added 10.
Eagles (71)
Rich Edwards – 16, Buddy Duke – 13, Hunter Harrell – 12, Lance Jenkins – 10, Brian McLean – 10, Tyler Davis – 10
Raiders ( 69)
Jason Lanier – 19, Drew Josey – 16, Joey Nichols – 14, L. Whitehead – 8, M. Hux – 6, J. Barnes – 3, T. Grimes – 2