Flight Varsity Wins a Thriller

Ben had a frustrated Flight Varsity game Wednesday night against talented Greater Atlanta Adventist (GAAA), turning the ball over several times and diving fruitlessly for other loose balls. But with nine seconds remaining in the tied game, he redeemed himself in a mighty way, driving the lane and laying in the winning basket with just three seconds left, giving Flight a 60 – 58 upset victory.

Somehow the game remained close the entire way. GAAA passed quickly and with precision, in contrast to the more physical brand of basketball played by Flight. Whenever GAAA would score a couple of baskets to move ahead, Ryan or Josiah would hit a clutch three to keep Flight in the game. All ten of Ryan’s points came in the first quarter. He also had 4 rebounds and one assist and steal.

At the end both of the first and second quarter the score remained tied, first at 23, then 33 – all at the half. More fouls were called against GAAA, leading to second-half frustration on their bench that was perhaps somewhat justified. Many more fouls could’ve been called against both teams. David came in off the bench to provide a spark, and he drove the lane repeatedly, drawing fouls. He hit three of four foul shots, grabbed 3 rebounds, and dished two assists. With Walker out, Josh was the only other Flight player to come in the game.

DJ helped Josiah run the offense, but most of the running one-handers on his repeated drives to the basket missed. He only scored two baskets and one free throw, and added 3 boards and 2 assists and steals. As usual, Josiah was all over the court, scoring 16 with 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Once he fell to the floor on top of a lose ball, but without grabbing it he instead got to his feet with the ball under him, and then picked it up. Ben added 6 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal.

Throughout the game GAAA was able to block many Flight shots. The third quarter ended with Flight up by just one, 50 – 49. GAAA’s best inside player drew his fourth foul and came out of the game. Amazingly, in the fourth quarter Flight was able to pass the ball inside to Willis for easy baskets, and several times he was able to draw a foul on the play. The big guy scored eight points in the fourth quarter and a game-high 20, including a perfect 6 – 6 from the foul line. Four of Willis’s 5 rebounds came in the fourth quarter.

It took Willis’ last three-point play to tie the game at 58 with 1:02 left. After a GAAA timeout, the visitors ran off 62 seconds before the coach called their final timeout. On the ensuing inbounds play in front of the scorer’s table, the short pass came into a GAAA player standing just on the frontcourt side of the halfcourt line. But not realizing exactly where he was standing, he ill-fatedly passed the ball to his teammate still in the backcourt…a disastrous turnover with nine seconds on the clock.

After their last timeout, Flight ran a play to inbound the ball to Josiah, who was double-teamed. Instead the ball was passed in to the open Ben, seemingly the last Flight option. He quickly dribbled to the middle of the court, looking to pass as Josiah, DJ, Ryan, and Willis spread out, fruitlessly trying to get open. Instead Ben found the lane wide open. Without options and the clock ticking down, Ben drove in and laid the ball in the basket. With just three seconds left, GAAA wasn’t able to inbound the ball. The team and crowd went wild…Flight had won!