Eddie Castillo’s basket at the buzzer was a dagger through the hearts of Boys Dem, as the Hoyas stormed into the NBBA finals with a hard fought, 63-62, victory at the Ronald Charles Gymnasium on Saturday.
The shot set off boisterous celebrations as fans stormed the court in salute of their team’s victory.
From the opening whistle these teams went at it like two heavyweight standing in the center of the ring exchanging haymakers. After ending the first half with a one point advantage at 28-27, Boys Dem came out in the third quarter on fire. They opened the period on an 11-3 run to take a 39-30 and looked as if ready to deliver that knockout blow.
But the Hoyas did not fold. Instead, they responded with a 12-2 run of their own, led by Karl John and Omari Applewaite, that saw them catapult into the lead at the end of the third quarter, 43-41.
Behind the scoring of Wilson Ferrance, who finished with 10 points in the fourth quarter, Boys Dem rallied and held a five-point advantage at 62-56 with 44 seconds left on the clock. On the Hoyas next possession, Darnell “Burger” Hendrickson was fouled attempting a three-point shot. He made all three of his free throws to bring his team to within three points of the lead at 62-59 with 24.2 seconds to go. A turnover gave the ball back to the Hoyas and Anthony Theodore was fouled. He converted on both of his free throws to bring the Hoyas to within a single of the lead at 62-61 with 14 seconds on the clock. Boys Dem again turned the ball over on their next possession and on the Hoyas attempt at the basket the ball was blocked out of bounds with 2.5 seconds showing on the clock.
Hoyas Coach Sammy Lee called time out to draw up a play. When the teams returned to the floor everyone in the gym was on their feet in anticipation. The Hoyas lined up on the left side of the basket and Boys Dem took their defensive position around them. At the referee’s whistle for the inbound, Castillo somehow got free, took the inbounds pass and calmly went up and sank the clutch 10-footer to win the game and send the gym into a frenzied celebration.
“It was a play designed for Burger” said Hoyas Coach Sammy Lee. “However it appeared that they (Boys Dem) were ready for that so I told them whoever gets free must take the shot and for some reason Eddie ended up wide open and the rest is history.”
It was sweet revenge for the Hoyas, who were swept out of the playoffs last season by Boys Dem, but it was a hard loss for Boys Dem. Although missing some key players and their usual bench they played a great game and came wthin 2.5 seconds of winning. Only seven players dressed for Saturday’s game.
Hendrickson led three Hoyas in double figures with 18 points, Karl John finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds and Castillo knocked down 15 points, but none bigger than that game winner. For the hard luck Boys Dem, Ferrance had 20 points, Kadeem Jones 16, Zomari Swanston 11 and nine rebounds, and Terrel Christian finished with ten points.
Guidance 82, Kings 77
In game one of the evening’s double-header, defending champions Guidance let everyone know that they are still the team to beat, posting an 82-77 victory over the Kings.
Guidance dominated the action for most of the game, leading by as many as 22 points at one stage, then holding off a furious fourth-quarter rally by the Kings to hold on for the five point victory. The champs were led by AQ St. Hillaire with a team-high 28 points. Eric McBean dropped in 15 points and 10 rebound and Joelfry Polanco netted 11 points and eight assists. For the Kings it was Craig “Big Smooth” Williams leading the way with a game-high 34 points and 11 rebounds while point guard Stephen O’reilly finished with 27 points.
