When you’re trailing by three points with less than 10 seconds remaining on the clock, a turnover is the last thing you want.
It’s certainly not the game plan we would have drawn up. But that’s why we’re not coaches.
On Thursday night, Fletcher High School (Neptune Beach, Fla.) trailed 42-41 and looked to have final possession. However, the inbound pass from their half of the court got picked off by the Parker High School (Jacksonville, Fla.) defender.
He raced down court. Instead of attempting a layup or ensuring the clock would run out by trying to continue evading the Fletcher pursuers or even lobbing the ball high into the air to waste a couple seconds, he tried to throw down a dunk for emphasis.
It bounced off the rim. Fletcher High got the rebound and guard Sean Benfield heaved a prayer.
Down 44-41 to force overtime #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/ZuWnUgfltP
— Alex Shall (@AlexShall) February 8, 2019
The full-court buzzer-beater went in. It sent the game to overtime.
And after such a shot, it would’ve been unfathomable for Fletcher to lose. The Senators won 53-51 in double-overtime.
Take a look at another angle:
Here’s another angle @SportsCenter @ESPNSCTop10 @DanHicken #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/3Drm98cwU5
— Alex Shall (@AlexShall) February 8, 2019
It wasn’t completely unreasonable for the Parker player to try to throw down the dunk. With mere seconds remaining, he might have thought time would expire as he dunked it. At the very least, even with time remaining, you can’t expect the other team to make a real-life full-court miracle.
And a dunk to ice the game? You’re lying if you said you hadn’t dreamed of such a moment.
But maybe next time, he’ll play it safe.
