Friday, December 19, 2008
DAWSON SPRINGS — A final play to a high school basketball game could not have been drawn up any better.
Unfortunately, Dawson Springs didn’t write the ending.
Tied at 75 with less than 10 seconds in the game, Caldwell County’s Brandon Sigler took what appeared to be the final shot of regulation. The ball sailed to the basket and missed.
Two more Tiger misses followed before the ball tipped back to Sigler, who grabbed the rebound in the middle of the lane and sent it to the bottom of the basket, a 77-75 Dawson loss.
Sigler scored just six points in the game, but his final two could not have been any more heartbreaking for the Panthers.
Dawson (2-4) led 74-68 with two and one-half minutes in the game, but Caldwell hit a hot streak while the Panthers were ice cold from the free-throw line, shooting one-of-six in the game’s final two minutes.
After Wes Mitchell missed a pair with 1:05 remaining, Tron Gray collected the rebound and sprinted the length of the floor for a lay-up and 75-74 Tiger lead.
Eathan Scott tied the game with 35 seconds on a free-throw, but Caldwell (1-4) held possession for the final shot. As time ticked down, the Tigers set up their play; Sigler missed the first time, but made his last shot of the game count.
The game’s final minutes were a mirror image of the rest of the game with many ties and lead changes throughout.
An unconventional four-point play swung the momentum to Dawson’s favor with the second quarter winding down.
With Dawson down 34-28 in the second quarter, Scott drove the lane and lifted up for a lay-up when Caldwell’s T.J. Miller made the foul and leapt into the air. Miller’s momentum carried him toward the hoop and he stopped by hanging on the rim.
Miller’s acrobatics resulted in a technical foul and goal-tending. Scott converted the personal foul free-throw and Aaron Duke made one-of-two on the technical free throws. The Panthers retained possession on the play and later Duke made one-of-two free-throws on another personal foul, pulling Dawson within a single point.
On the Panthers’ next offensive possession, Scott beat his man off the dribble and went in for two more. One minute later, Duke accepted a pass on the wing and broke the Tiger zone for an easy bucket and a three-point lead.
Dawson led 37-36 heading into halftime.
The Panthers broke out of the intermission on an 8-0 run to take the game’s highest lead at 44-36. Propelling the run was Scott, who knocked down a long jumper and then a three-pointer from the top of the key to cap the run.
Caldwell’s Gray would not let Dawson take the game without a fight. Gray put up a game-high 38 points and continually brought the Tigers back from nearly falling out of contention many times.
Trailing 57-51 with less than a minute in the third quarter, Gray hit back-to-back threes from opposite corners to tie the game.
Dawson led by as many as seven with three and one-half minutes to go in the fourth. That mark came when Scott made a steal and missed a breakaway lay-up, but Brandon Braxton cleaned up the play by converting on the rebound, a 72-65 advantage.
By game’s end, the Panthers had three players in double-figures, but could not capture the most important statistic, the win. Duke led Dawson with a game-high 30 points. Scott posted 17 while Mitchell pitched in with 15.
CALDWELL COUNTY 23 13 21 20 — 77
DAWSON SPRINGS 16 21 23 15 — 75
Caldwell County (77) — Tron Gray 38 Jordan Choate 12 Brandon Sigler 6 Marcus Wimbleduff 6 Brad Dixon 5 T.J. Miller 4 Whitney Wisdom 4 Joseph Bubba Stone 2 Kody McGregor 1
Dawson Springs (75) — Aaron Duke 30 Eathan Scott 17 Wes Mitchell 15 Braxton Burden 6 Brett Cobb 4, Jacob Patton 3
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