Kyson Rawls (No. 2) of St. Georges Technical High School takes the ball to the net.
Tristan Guild (No. 24) of St. Georges Technical High School defends the net against Ish Valadez (No. 23) of Our Saviour Lutheran.
Paul Brown (No. 4) of St. Georges Technical High School flies through the air on his way to the net.
Mark Harris (No. 5) of St. Georges Technical High School tries to get the ball to the net.
Kyson Rawls (No. 2) of St. Georges Technical High School takes a foul shot to tie the game 40-40 late in the final quarter.
Kyson Rawls (No. 2) of St. Georges Technical High School drives the ball down the court past the defense of Anthony Lopez (No. 4) of Our Savior Lutheran. St. Georges is defeated by Our Saviour Lutheran (Bronx, NY) 43-40 in boys basketball in the Concord Classic on Monday.
Rod Griffin, St. Georges head coach, has some words with the referees.
Lamar Hamrick (No. 10) of St. Georges Technical High School takes the ball to the net past the defense of Ish Valadez (No. 23) of Our Saviour Lutheran.
Lamar Hamrick (No. 10) of St. Georges Technical High School takes the ball to the net.
BRANDYWINE HUNDRED – Sometimes, a game just gets away from you.
A victory slipped through the collective fingers of the St. Georges boys basketball team on Monday, leaving the Hawks to contemplate the what ifs at the Concord Classic.
St. Georges watched a seven-point lead evaporate in the fourth quarter as Our Saviour Lutheran of Bronx, N.Y., motored on past for a 43-40 victory.
“Oh man, we had a golden opportunity to win that game,” Hawks coach Rod Griffin said.
St. Georges (10-2), ranked second in Delaware, had its chances to change the outcome. The Hawks missed three critical free throws with 2:32 to play, then saw two potential tying 3-pointers go in and out of the basket in the final seconds.
“It’s one of those tough losses,” Griffin said. “We’ve got to live with it, hopefully get better from it.”
Lamar Hamrick (10) goes to the basket against Precious Achuwa (2) of Our Saviour Lutheran of Bronx, N.Y., at the Concord Classic on Monday.
Kyson Rawls (2) of St. Georges drives against Matt Williams (3) of Our Saviour Lutheran of Bronx, N.Y., during the Concord Classic on Monday.
The Hawks were flying high early, jumping to a 12-5 lead on Kyson Rawls’ 3-pointer with 3:27 left in the first quarter.
St. Georges led 18-10 after the opening period, and stretched it to 24-13 on a fast-break layup by Paul Brown and free throw by Nah’Shon Hyland with 5:05 left in the first half. But the Falcons (11-4) scored the last eight points of the second quarter, pulling within 24-21 on a Matt Williams 3-pointer.
“I think we let them get a little momentum going into halftime,” Griffin said. “We were up eight, and then they came within three. Things like that hurt us.”
The Hawks found another spark, scoring eight straight on six free throws and an 18-footer by Rawls to lead 35-28 with 41.9 seconds remaining in the third.
But Our Saviour Lutheran rallied again, and the Falcons led 40-39 with 2:32 left when St. Georges went to the line for four free throws – including a technical foul on an OSL assistant coach. But the Hawks could only hit one to tie it at 40, and Ricky Hicks and Williams combined to make three foul shots to put the Falcons up 43-40.
A tying 3-point attempt by Hyland rimmed out with 14.2 seconds to play. Our Saviour Lutheran missed two foul shots, but another 3-point attempt by Brown was just long.
“We had some good looks at the end,” Griffin said. “The ball rolled around on both of those 3-pointers, and that would have been huge.”
Rawls led the Hawks with 15 points, and Lamar Hamrick added 10. Williams had 11 points for the Falcons.
“The lesson learned is that when we’ve got a team down, especially a team with a lot of size like that, we’ve got to put them away,” Griffin said. “I think we’ll grow from it.”
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ