On To The Final Four

BCHS Prevails In
Double Overtime

Scrappy Knights Outlast Middlesex;
Will Face Lebanon In Group A Semis

KNIGHTS 73   CHARGERS 65

By NATHAN KING
HERALD SPORTS EDITOR
   RICHMOND — It took a second half comeback and two overtimes, but the Buckingham County High School basketball team secured its second trip to the Virginia High School League Group A, Division 2 Final Four in three seasons with a 73-65 victory over Middlesex on Saturday afternoon at the Siegel Center at Virginia Commonwealth University.
   Senior guard Harry Eldridge, who was held scoreless until the Knights' final offensive play in regulation, scored the first of his eight points to tie the contest at 52 apiece on a driving lay-up to send the game into the first overtime.
   Eldridge's score came just after senior standout Taylor Boyers fouled out with 33.8 seconds remaining.
   Boyers, a team captain and leader, was relegated to the bench for what turned out to be two overtime periods.
Even with that in mind, the Knights' first option was to go for the tie to send the game into the extra session.
   "We would have taken a three if Caleb [White] had gotten a perfect look," said BCHS head coach Russ Gowin on the team's strategy during a time out prior to the final play. "But it would've had to be a perfect look. It wasn't there, so Harry went in and got the shot to fall."
   "We were playing the move inside," said Middlesex head coach Patrick Weller. "We were playing straight-up to keep them from penetrating, and not to get the easy bucket."
   It didn't work for the Chargers.
  Buckingham continued to slash into the lane. BCHS sophomore Tarian Ayers scored the first two buckets of the first overtime to give the Knights a 56-52 lead with 2:47 left.
   After two made free throws by Middlesex (12-10) freshman Ryheem Lockley, BCHS senior point guard B.J. Jones found a wide open Kevin Bolden under the bucket to give the Knights a 58-54 lead. Middlesex, however scored five straight points to retake the lead at 59-58 on another two free throws by Lockley. Eldridge scored on the other end with 45 seconds left to give BCHS a 60-59 lead, but Lockley tied it again by making one foul shot, with 31.3 seconds remaining, giving Buckingham the final possession.
The Knights couldn't get off a good shot in the waning seconds, as Middlesex forced a second overtime.
   After a scoreless start to the second four-minute overtime period, Eldridge threw up a prayer from about 12 feet out over a double-team to put the Knights ahead for good.
   Things began to fall for Buckingham. Eldridge followed that desperation heave with a more conventional steal and lay-up 20 seconds later, to give the Knights another two-possession advantage. A White lay-up gave BCHS a six-point lead at 66-60 with 1:17 remaining.
   Four consecutive made foul shots by Jones gave the Knights enough cushion to keep Middlesex in check.
   "Maybe our slow start helped us to be the fresher of the two teams," said Ayers. "At first, we were jogging up and down the court. Maybe we got by with it this time, but that's something we can't allow ourselves to do again if we want to keep winning."
   "Our motto in practice is 'work hard or go home,'" said Gowin. "I thought maybe our kids caught another gear late. Both teams really used only about seven or eight guys. We hung in there and made plays when we needed to, and I do think at the end we were the fresher of the two teams."
   The Knights (20-3) trailed 30-22 at the half, and fell behind by ten points in the third quarter, but continued to battle until catching fire late in the third quarter to begin their comeback.
   Buckingham ended the third period on a 7-0 run to trail 39-36, and took a 41-40 lead on an Ayers basket early in the fourth. The two teams traded the lead throughout the fourth quarter, before ending regulation tied at 52 apiece.
"We average giving up around 50 points per game," said Gowin, "and our defense helped keep us close, until we were able to start to capitalize on a couple of stops."
   Middlesex was led by Lockley, who scored a game-high 30 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Michael Bess added 14 with six assists, while Davonne Bryant scored 12.
   The Chargers shot 23-58 (40 percent) from the field, and was 7-22 (32 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. They were 12-16 (75 percent) from the foul line.
   Buckingham was led by Ayers and White, who scored 18 points apiece, while Boyers added 14. Boyers, who averages a double-double on the season, was held to just six rebounds.
   Kevin Bolden added nine points to go along with six rebounds, while Eldridge scored eight points. Jones dished out eight assists, while scoring six points.
   As a team, BCHS shot 29-56 from the field (52 percent), but was 3-12 (25 percent) from behind the three-point arc. The Knights were 12-21 (57 percent) from the foul line.
   Middlesex out-rebounded the Knights 36-34, and held a 13-11 advantage on the offensive boards.
   Buckingham moves on to face Lebanon on Friday in the Group A Division 2 Final Four on Friday morning at 10:30 a.m. Lebanon upended Region C champion Radford 62-61 in its quarterfinal contest.
   The winner of Friday's contest will take on the Dan River/James River Buchanan victor on Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. in the championship game.

Relieved Knights
 Savor For A Moment

By NATHAN KING
HERALD SPORTS EDITOR

RICHMOND
   The expression of Buckingham County High School senior basketball standout Taylor Boyers on the front page as he shared an embrace with teammate Kevin Bolden is quite telling of the afternoon the Knights endured in Saturday afternoon's Group A, Division 2 double-overtime victory over Region A runner-up Middlesex.
   Celebration? For a moment.
   More of a sense of relief? Absolutely.
  Nothing went right for the Knights seemingly all afternoon, as Buckingham trailed for most of the game in what wound up being a 73-65 win.
   Boyers, who fouled out with 33.8 seconds remaining in regulation, was forced to be a cheerleader for what turned out to be two overtime periods.
   "I was devastated when Taylor went out," said sophomore guard Tarian Ayers, who helped the Knights erase a ten-point second half deficit to force overtime. "Taylor told us that we were going to have to step up. He's been our leader the whole season, but it was up to us to take over."
   Despite everything that had happened, the scrappy bunch kept clawing away and eventually what looked so hard for the better part of 37 minutes, all of a sudden started to look easy.
   A desperation heave by senior guard Harry Eldridge — who was held scoreless for most of the afternoon until his first bucket forced the tie — with 2:20 remaining in overtime gave the Knights a 62-60 lead.
   Eldridge, a guard who scores mainly by slashing toward the hoop, had darted into the paint only to find a Middlesex double-team awaiting his arrival from about ten feet out. Already having broken his dribble, and with no available teammate around, Eldridge threw up an off-balanced prayer that was answered.
   It was seemingly Buckingham's first break of the afternoon. But apparently, it was enough.
   Moments later, Eldridge forced a turnover, and his more conventional lay-up gave the Knights a two-possession advantage with just under two minutes left.
   The crowd of around 2,000 Knights fans could feel the change in momentum. An afternoon's worth of frustrations were released in a 20-second span.
   From there, Buckingham did what it has done in close games all season. The short burst gave the Knights control of the tempo, and from there, they were able to dictate the pace.
   Textbook. Even if it came later than usual.
   "I was happy to see how our guys came together after Taylor fouled out to get the victory," said BCHS head coach Russ Gowin. "But I don't want to do that again."
   After all was said and done, the expected celebration was somewhat subdued. The afternoon's events, fatigue and knowing that games still remain tempered any celebration. The seniors on this team have been here before.
   And that's just how they acted. After all, any bigger celebration can wait.