LeFlore suffers overtime loss in Milwaukee
LeFlore saw its chances for an undefeated season end Friday night when the Rattlers lost in overtime 69-66 to Milwaukee Vincent in the Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook shootout.
Marvin Fitzgerald rebounded a missed shot, then hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime for Milwaukee.
LeFlore led 66-64 with 61 seconds left in overtime when Nick Williams was called for an intentional foul defending a breakaway layup.
The Vikings' Shavon Scott hit both free throws to tie it at 66, then Scott drove the lane for the go-ahead basket with 14 seconds to go.
LeFlore missed a pair of shots in the final seconds, and Steve Stovall hit a free throw with 3 seconds left for the final score.
"We got some rough calls down the stretch," LeFlore coach Otis Hughley said. "It's crazy. It wasn't the same on both ends, but you've got to expect that. That didn't win the game. Vincent won the game."
The Vikings (5-2) have won five Wisconsin Division 1 (large schools) state championships and finished as runner-up twice in the past 12 years.
Williams, who signed with Marquette, scored 29 points for the Rattlers (15-1).
"They're not very big, but they have a lot of heart and they play as hard as they can," Williams said of Vincent. "No wonder they win all the time."
It was LeFlore's first loss since a 66-59 defeat by Montrose Christian of Rockville, Md., on Feb. 2. In a rematch, the Rattlers beat Montrose last week at the Iolani Classic in Hawaii.
"We didn't get loose balls or get key rebounds," Williams said of Friday's game. "We made bad turnovers late in crunch time. It just slipped away from us."
DeMarcus Cousins had 20 points for LeFlore before fouling out with the Rattlers leading 62-60 in overtime.
LeFlore trailed 45-32 early in the fourth but took a 56-52 lead on a free throw by Darius Andrews with 37 seconds left in regulation. Mike Weems hit a 3-pointer for Vincent, and DeMarcus Cousins sank a pair of free throws to extend the Rattlers' lead to 58-55 with 20 seconds to go before Fitzgerald's game-tying 3-pointer.
{More at www.al.com ]
|
