“I was open, so I just thought I’d shoot it,” Hale said.
Good thinking.
Hale’s 3-pointer swished through with 10 seconds left to give the Arrows an exciting 51-50 victory Friday night over Kenton Ridge.
“I just heard the crowd going crazy and I felt goosebumps and I was so excited,” said Hale, who said he’s dreamed about making such a shot.
Hale is a senior and scored 10 points in his third varsity start. He played junior varsity last year.
“It’s much more intense and quicker paced,” Hale said. “You have to be more focused.”
Tecumseh (1-2, 1-0 CBC Kenton Trail) opened with one-sided losses to Miamisburg and Springfield.
“It’s a big, big win for our kids,” Arrows coach Roger Culbertson said. “We kept hanging in there.”
The Arrows led 34-24 early in the second half, but they missed layups and saw 3-pointers rattle in and out. Kenton Ridge (0-3, 0-1) took advantage behind Jameel Cosby, Michael Baker and Austin Wallace to go on a 20-5 run to lead 44-39 with 5:25 left.
“We challenged them at halftime and they came out and played as a team and got some things done,” Cougars coach Kris Spriggs said. “And we put ourselves in a situation where we had a chance to win.”
Clay Mastin, who scored a game-high 22 points with four 3-pointers, rallied the Arrows with seven of their last 12 points, including a banked-in 3-pointer. “That gave us a little bit of hope,” Culbertson said.
Cosby led the Cougars with 20 points and Wallace scored 15. The Cougars opened with losses to Catholic Central and West Liberty-Salem, but Spriggs is starting to see a mostly new lineup start to come together.
“It’s a growing process,” he said. “If you had seen us play our first scrimmage, we’ve come leaps and bounds. We’re making progress each night out.”
The Arrows built their first-half leads with 3-pointers. Hale, Devin Alltop and Mastin sank three straight and Mastin added a free throw to take a 4-4 tie to a 14-7 lead.
The lead hovered between five and eight points until the Cougars cut their deficit to three twice late in the first half. But the Arrows finished with a 7-2 run on two buckets by Ross Warren, who scored 10 points, and another 3-pointer by Mastin to take a 29-21 lead at the half.
The Arrows threatened to blow it open early in the third when Mastin made his third 3-pointer and Warren scored inside. But the lead melted quickly when KR scored nine straight to start its comeback.
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