HOLY JUMPING UP AND DOWN...
What happened in the final seconds Tuesday night at Yamhill-Carlton will leave a lasting impression on Astoria Coach Chris Hunt and his boy's basketball team when they reflect on the 2006-07 campaign when it's finally over.
The burning question will be: What if?
What if Astoria is able to work for a game-tying 3-point shot with under a minute left instead of two free throws by Andy Murray with under 10 seconds left? What if Yamhill-Carlton's Zach Anderson made his free throws with 3.3 seconds left which would have given Astoria a natural stoppage in play, allowing them to set up for a last-second shot?
What if Astoria would have been able to get the timeout the bench was so desperately calling after Tony Robinson pulled down Anderson's miss on the front end of a 1 and 1?
Drama, throat-numbing excitement, and a bitter road defeat for the 6th ranked Fishermen, as they let the 3rd ranked Tigers slip through their fingers, 44-43 at Barnett Court Tuesday night.
In this, the third meeting between the two teams this season, Astoria came out with a plan: Not to let Anderson torch them for 20 plus points, keep the Tigers off-balance with controlled, smart, offensive possessions, and to not fall behind by more than 10 points in the contest.
Check, check, and check.
"We did everything we were supposed to but win the game." a disappointed Coach Chris Hunt said after the defeat. "I'm proud of our guys. They did everything we asked of them. Now we have to go out, win the last two, and hope for some help. This thing (the Cowapa League playoff positions) is still up for grabs."
The Fish, who dropped the two previous meetings to Yamhill-Carlton, 77-68 and 59-53, showed that they would not be intimidated by the raucous and packed Barnett Court crowd, staying even in the 1st Quarter and went to the break up by three, 25-22. Sophomore Jordan Poyer, Senior guards Josimar Macareno and Tony Robinson were huge in the first half for Astoria, scoring 6, 5, and 5 points respectively. But the bigger impact on the tempo of the first half was the defense on Anderson, who was held to just 2 points as the teams headed to the half.
"I thought we did our best job tonight on Zach," according to Hunt. "He is a great player. Normally, we get that kind of effort defensively against him and we win the game."
In the second half, no team led by more than 3 points, see-sawing with the advantage. Astoria held the slim 33-31 lead going into the final quarter. In the 4th, Anderson came alive for the Tigers, but more on the defensive side of the ball, blocking 4 shots and pulling down 6 rebounds to clog up the middle on the Fishermen.
An Anderson lay-in against pressure with just over 3 minutes left in the game tied it at 40-40. After Murray hit one of two free throws to put Astoria up, 41-40 with 2:17 left, Walter Skuzeski, the fleet 6th man for Yamhill-Carlton, put the Tigers up for good with a teardrop 16-foot jumper, 42-41. After a Murray miss was rebounded by Skuzeski, tried to wind the clock down, but Brendan Landwehr picked off the Skuzeski pass and the Fishermen had another opportunity.
But it was short-lived. Driving down the lane with the ball, Landwehr was called for the offensive foul, banging against Anderson. Turnover, Astoria. With just 1:33 left in the game, Yamhill-Carlton with the ball, Astoria down 1, the Fishermen still only had 5 team fouls which meant they would need to foul the Tigers twice to get them to the free-throw line. Astoria played tight defense and tried to cause a turnover, but ended up fouling Anderson with 43 seconds left, sending him to the line for the 1 and 1. The senior buried both shots and Yamhill-Carlton held the 44-41 lead.
Astoria worked the clock down, searching for the best possible shot, but could only manage a Murray drive in the lane and a JT Sorensen foul with 4.1 seconds left. Murray hit the pair to pull Astoria within 1, 44-43, and the Fishermen immediately fouled Anderson on the inbounds.
With a mere 3.3 seconds on the clock, Anderson toed the charity stripe for a 1 and 1. Astoria, with a timeout remaining, needed a miss.
They got it, as Anderson brushed the front of the rim with the attempt. Robinson snatched to rebound, as the Astoria bench was screaming for their final timeout. The officials did not acknowledge the bench, Robinson took a dribble and had his pass downcourt intercepted by Anderson.
Game over.
Heartbreak for the Fishermen. Joy on senior night for the Tigers.
Astoria dropped to 5-3 in league play, now tied with Tillamook and Scappoose for 2nd place. Yamhill-Carlton mvoed to 7-1 in their inaugural season in the Cowapa League. Next for the Fishermen is a road contest at Banks before they finish the regular season at home against Seaside. Yamhill-Carlton is on the road at Tillamook, then at Scappoose to close out the regular season.
It is still anyone's league title, but the Tigers now hold the aces in their hand.
ASTORIA - 11 14 8 10 - 43
Macareno 9, Robinson 9, Murray 9, Landwehr 6, Poyer 6, Alfonse 3, Culver, Faulkner
YAMHILL-CARLTON - 12 10 9 13 - 44
Weber 10, Sorensen 5, Anderson 8, Bryant 8, Skuzeski 8, White 4, Morgan, Garcia
The burning question will be: What if?
What if Astoria is able to work for a game-tying 3-point shot with under a minute left instead of two free throws by Andy Murray with under 10 seconds left? What if Yamhill-Carlton's Zach Anderson made his free throws with 3.3 seconds left which would have given Astoria a natural stoppage in play, allowing them to set up for a last-second shot?
What if Astoria would have been able to get the timeout the bench was so desperately calling after Tony Robinson pulled down Anderson's miss on the front end of a 1 and 1?
Drama, throat-numbing excitement, and a bitter road defeat for the 6th ranked Fishermen, as they let the 3rd ranked Tigers slip through their fingers, 44-43 at Barnett Court Tuesday night.
In this, the third meeting between the two teams this season, Astoria came out with a plan: Not to let Anderson torch them for 20 plus points, keep the Tigers off-balance with controlled, smart, offensive possessions, and to not fall behind by more than 10 points in the contest.
Check, check, and check.
"We did everything we were supposed to but win the game." a disappointed Coach Chris Hunt said after the defeat. "I'm proud of our guys. They did everything we asked of them. Now we have to go out, win the last two, and hope for some help. This thing (the Cowapa League playoff positions) is still up for grabs."
The Fish, who dropped the two previous meetings to Yamhill-Carlton, 77-68 and 59-53, showed that they would not be intimidated by the raucous and packed Barnett Court crowd, staying even in the 1st Quarter and went to the break up by three, 25-22. Sophomore Jordan Poyer, Senior guards Josimar Macareno and Tony Robinson were huge in the first half for Astoria, scoring 6, 5, and 5 points respectively. But the bigger impact on the tempo of the first half was the defense on Anderson, who was held to just 2 points as the teams headed to the half.
"I thought we did our best job tonight on Zach," according to Hunt. "He is a great player. Normally, we get that kind of effort defensively against him and we win the game."
In the second half, no team led by more than 3 points, see-sawing with the advantage. Astoria held the slim 33-31 lead going into the final quarter. In the 4th, Anderson came alive for the Tigers, but more on the defensive side of the ball, blocking 4 shots and pulling down 6 rebounds to clog up the middle on the Fishermen.
An Anderson lay-in against pressure with just over 3 minutes left in the game tied it at 40-40. After Murray hit one of two free throws to put Astoria up, 41-40 with 2:17 left, Walter Skuzeski, the fleet 6th man for Yamhill-Carlton, put the Tigers up for good with a teardrop 16-foot jumper, 42-41. After a Murray miss was rebounded by Skuzeski, tried to wind the clock down, but Brendan Landwehr picked off the Skuzeski pass and the Fishermen had another opportunity.
But it was short-lived. Driving down the lane with the ball, Landwehr was called for the offensive foul, banging against Anderson. Turnover, Astoria. With just 1:33 left in the game, Yamhill-Carlton with the ball, Astoria down 1, the Fishermen still only had 5 team fouls which meant they would need to foul the Tigers twice to get them to the free-throw line. Astoria played tight defense and tried to cause a turnover, but ended up fouling Anderson with 43 seconds left, sending him to the line for the 1 and 1. The senior buried both shots and Yamhill-Carlton held the 44-41 lead.
Astoria worked the clock down, searching for the best possible shot, but could only manage a Murray drive in the lane and a JT Sorensen foul with 4.1 seconds left. Murray hit the pair to pull Astoria within 1, 44-43, and the Fishermen immediately fouled Anderson on the inbounds.
With a mere 3.3 seconds on the clock, Anderson toed the charity stripe for a 1 and 1. Astoria, with a timeout remaining, needed a miss.
They got it, as Anderson brushed the front of the rim with the attempt. Robinson snatched to rebound, as the Astoria bench was screaming for their final timeout. The officials did not acknowledge the bench, Robinson took a dribble and had his pass downcourt intercepted by Anderson.
Game over.
Heartbreak for the Fishermen. Joy on senior night for the Tigers.
Astoria dropped to 5-3 in league play, now tied with Tillamook and Scappoose for 2nd place. Yamhill-Carlton mvoed to 7-1 in their inaugural season in the Cowapa League. Next for the Fishermen is a road contest at Banks before they finish the regular season at home against Seaside. Yamhill-Carlton is on the road at Tillamook, then at Scappoose to close out the regular season.
It is still anyone's league title, but the Tigers now hold the aces in their hand.
ASTORIA - 11 14 8 10 - 43
Macareno 9, Robinson 9, Murray 9, Landwehr 6, Poyer 6, Alfonse 3, Culver, Faulkner
YAMHILL-CARLTON - 12 10 9 13 - 44
Weber 10, Sorensen 5, Anderson 8, Bryant 8, Skuzeski 8, White 4, Morgan, Garcia
posted by Danny Havel at 8:25 AM
3 Comments:
You could not have asked for more from Astoria, as a team, defensively. Robinson and Poyer did one heck of a job defending Anderson. They each had to constantly battle when they were guarding him and did not allow him any uncontested shots. Holding him well below his average. The entire game was a physical game that could have gone either way.
Want to thank you Danny for the great job you are doing. I was a little saddened to hear that Matt was handing our boys over to you,but they are still getting the great TEAM COVERAGE which we have received from Matt since he first came to Astoria. The Daily Seaside Signal seems to always only focus on one or two players the entire season and it is great the boys and families can listen to you and then get a great write up on your blog...Thank you.....
Thanks you for the kind words. I love my job and will always strive to get better at it. The support of the community for what Matt and I are doing helps more than you can realize.
Go Fish...
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