A win over a county rival on the road may have never met more scorn than what was handed down by Hunt High varsity boys basketball coach Maurice Williams on Wednesday night following his team’s 64-62 victory at Beddingfield.
Assuming the mantle of head coach for 2021 after veteran Warriors sideline general Dwight Taylor decided to opt out of the season due to COVID-19 concerns, Williams saw his Hunt team lose sight of a 10-point lead with 5 minutes, 30 seconds remaining after Beddingfield senior Kaleb Harris knocked down a 3-pointer at the top of the key to tie it.
The Bruins had a chance to tie with one second remaining, but freshman Taevon Edwards missed both free throws, allowing the 3-A Big East Conference Warriors to escape once a long pass was thrown down the floor to exhaust the final second.
Hunt, following a season-opening loss last week at SouthWest Edgecombe, evened its early ledger at 1-1. Beddingfield of the 2-A Eastern Plains Conference remained winless through three games and visits Hunt for a rematch Friday night. The game was originally set for last Friday, but was postponed due to anticipated inclement weather.
“Beddingfield’s a tough, scrappy team,” Williams said. “But I’ve got some things that I’ve got to clean up as a coach and tighten up. Too many guys, my guys are making too many excuses. That was on me. I’ll take that one.”
It was the Bruins not stopping the basketball at the beginning of the fourth quarter, with Hunt junior Lucas Robinson converting a layup off a turnover to make it 53-43.
But fueled by senior Raekwon Batts and Harris, the Bruins steadily chipped into the margin. After Hunt briefly kept the Bruins at arms length with Robinson’s 3-pointer and a dunk by 6-foot-4 junior Davon McKayhan to make it 58-52, Batts spun into the lane and was fouled to start a three-point play. Harris forced his way to the free-throw line, making a pair of shots to trim Hunt’s lead to 60-57. With the Bruins getting a stop on the defensive end, the ball found its way back to Harris, who connected from long range to tie it at 60 with just under two minutes to play.
“I told them I guess the measure of a small victory, even though we’re two points short on the scoreboard tonight, is we had a totally different reaction in that locker room tonight losing by two as compared to the night before losing by 18,” Beddingfield head coach Jeremy Howard said. “It was quiet. They’re hurting. They played hard; everyone fulfilled their role and we got some good contributions from role players.”
Once Beddingfield tied it, Hunt drained the clock under a minute, with senior Blaize Keen getting fouled on a drive. He made the first, but missed the second, allowing McKayhan to knife in and get position for a putback.
Hunt led 63-60 when Harris misfired from the corner to tie, but Batts, who led all scorers with 21 points, grabbed the rebound to make it a one-point game.
“I was trying to get the win.” Harris said. “Win or lose, it’s a good game for us. We’re growing as a team, but I just wanted to win for the team.”
However, Batts was lost to fouls attempting to trap Keen just beyond midcourt. Keen split his free throws, giving Beddingfield the chance to tie or take the lead late with Hunt up 63-61. The Bruins’ subsequent offensive set was mired in stagnation, leaving Harris to take a difficult sideline jumper. Keen and Beddingfield sophomore Matthew Lucas arrived to tie up, with the possession arrow favoring the Warriors.
“You’ve just got to get to the basket,” Keen said. “They’re going to foul you and there was a lot of fouls. The game’s on the line, I’m a senior, they’re going to look to me to score.”
A blitzkrieg of Beddingfield timeouts prior left the Bruins without the luxury of designing a pivotal sequence.
“As well as we ran our zone offense the three or four possessions before that, we got out of whack, and with a younger team from top to bottom, I kind of have to use my timeouts a little more often that I’d like to,” Howard said. “I wish I would have had one there to just draw it up again and we got in a little panic. But I wouldn’t want anybody else taking the shot out there. Between Kaleb and (Batts), it just didn’t fall.”
McKayhan triggered the inbounds pass to Keen, but had it stripped by sophomore Johtavious Murray. Edwards grabbed the loose ball and was fouled by McKayhan as time expired. The officials put one second back on the clock, where Edwards missed the first foul shot and unsuccessfully attempted a rebound of his own miss that turned into a lane violation.
Needing one more inbounds pass, Hunt threw it long and was able to get the final second off the clock before the ball was touched and went out of bounds. The officials conferred and declared the game over.
Harris had 20 points for the Bruins, with Keen and Robinson having 12 each for the Warriors. McKayhan had 10 and junior Christian Joyner tossed in nine.
Hunt survived a 2-for-6 showing at the foul line in the second half.
“A couple key plays right there at the end to help us out,” Williams said. “Then, we got to manage the clock. We’re shooting the ball at the end of the third quarter. We didn’t need to rush, but we shot four shots and then we missed layups and free throws. I’m not taking anything away from Beddingfield, they’re a good team. But it’s just stuff we’ve got to clean up.”
HUNT (64)
Jo. Williams 6, Je. Williams 5, Keen 12, McKayhan 10, Carmon 6, Robinson 12, Anderson 2, Stokes 2, Joyner 9.
BEDDINGFIELD (62)
Batts 21, Harris 20, Murray 6, D. Edwards, T. Edwards 3, Lucas 9, Joyner 3.
