Hickman steal and 3 pointer wins it
By Cort Reynolds
ADA – Ada junior Kayleb Hickman stole a long in-bounds pass, then dribbled downcourt and nailed a top of the key triple just before the buzzer to lift the Ada High School boys basketball team to a thrilling 56-55 overtime win over visiting Blanchard Valley Conference foe Arcadia on January 3.
Junior Zack Zimmerman willed in a key trifecta off the glass with 9.7 seconds left to pull Ada within 55-53. Arcadia had trouble getting the ball in bounds against the Bulldog press and called its last timeout.
When play resumed, Redskin Blayne Colman attempted a long pass over the defense from the baseline into double coverage. Hickman baited the underthrown baseball toss, timed his leap and made a nice pick-off just beyond midcourt.
He then righted himself, dribbled straight down the middle of the floor with shoulders squared and drilled the game-winner with three seconds remaining.
The Redskins hurriedly threw the ball in but were only able to get off a wild desperation heave as time expired.
Playing just their third home game, the Bulldogs improved to 9-3 overall and 4-0 in the BVC to stay tied for first after the exciting victory. Two of their three home games have gone down to the last second of overtime.
Arcadia fell to 5-3 overall and 1-3 in BVC play with the tough loss.
“Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good,” said Ada head coach Chris Sautter. “I was okay with Kayleb taking it down and shooting it in that situation. We did well not to celebrate and to keep playing defense after making the shot.
“Zack wants the ball in those (big) moments,” he noted of the previous three which set the stage for the wild finish. Zimmerman also nailed the clutch tying triple that forced overtime.
“For Kayleb to score 19 and guard one of their top players showed his conditioning,” Sautter noted. “We are not going to win many games giving up over 50 points. Our offense isn’t good enough yet.”
The Bulldogs led 7-2 early after a Zimmerman three-pointer, followed by a steal and breakaway reverse layup by Kolton Dysert.
Arcadia splashed two triples in a 10-2 run to surge ahead by three. Junior Gavin Oldfield slashed his way for a driving layin to cut it to 12-11 after the opening stanza.
Hickman made a layup and drained a right corner triple to give Ada a 16-12 edge early in the second stanza. Redskin southpaw Owen Green drained a triple, but Hickman scored in transition.
Green made a backdoor cut layin, and Lamarion Tucker sank a trifecta to put the visitors back on top 20-18 five minutes before halftime.
Another Green trey 55 ticks later built the lead to five. Tripp Brubaker finished the third Redskin backdoor cut with a layup, and Grady Bronston drilled a left corner three to cap a 10-0 flurry.
Hickman canned a layup to slice the deficit to 28-22 going to intermission. Red-hot Arcadia shot 6-13 from beyond the arc in the first half.
“They shot the lights out in the first half,” said Sautter. The Bulldogs also committed nine of their 14 turnovers in the first half.
Oldfield sank a driving layin, and Dysert drilled a lane pull-up shot to start the second half. Carson Conley nailed a right elbow 15-footer to knot it 28-28 at the 5:33 mark.
Redskin guard Isaac Stoner untied it by nailing a triple. Brubaker converted two foul shots, but Zimmerman canned a leaning banker to make it 33-30. Double Z then drove the lane for a finger roll to stay within 35-32 at the 3:33 juncture.
Hickman nailed a short bank shot, followed by a Stoner drive. Slade Gossman sank a layin and Arcadia then tried to hold for the last shot. But Levi Green doubled the ball from behind, and Hickman stole it.
Hickman then drove and converted a transition three-point play to put Ada ahead 39-37 with 8.8 seconds left.
Stoner sped full court through the defense only to see his reverse layup spin out, but Green followed it with a tip-in to tie it 39-39 heading to the fourth period.
Gossman powered home a post-up layin to open the final stanza. Brubaker banked home a 17-footer. Dysert rattled in a 19-footer from the right side. Two Conley foul shots gave Ada a 45-41 lead with 5:20 left in regulation.
Green converted a follow shot, yet Oldfield canned a right side fadeaway banker to provide a 47-43 lead. Redskin Green answered by sinking a tough bank shot at the 2:33 juncture.
A putback three-point play by Colman put Arcadia back in front 48-47 at the 1:50 mark. Stoner canned two foul shots with 61 seconds left to increase the lead to three.
Zimmerman then lined up a left wing trifecta and drilled it to the game 50-50 with 45.6 seconds left in the fourth. Arcadia held for the last shot, and almost won it but Brubaker’s difficult 17-foot fadeaway rimmed in and out at the buzzer.
Ada won the OT tip and ran off over a minute before missing an open triple. Stoner converted four clutch foul shots to give the Redskins a 54-50 lead with 49.4 ticks to go.
Colman split a pair at the charity stripe with 19.5 seconds left to build the lead to five. Zimmerman then banked in the trey that kept Ada alive with 9.7 seconds to go before the wild finish.
Hickman’s steal and hoop heroics won it with three seconds left in OT. Ada scored all six of its points during the extra session in the final 10 seconds.
There was some question whether his right foot was over the three-point line on the winning shot, but with no instant replay, the call stood despite pleas from Redskin coach Jordan Benson and their fans.
Sautter said he expected Arcadia to try and throw long over the press on the last play, thus Ada was prepared to defend it. Hickman then used his defensive back training to intercept the pass.
Hickman scored a career-high 19 points, while Zimmerman netted 13 markers. Conley added eight before fouling out.
Junior Oldfield and sophomore Dysert tallied six points apiece.
“Gavin is just scraping the surface of his potential,” said Sautter.
Green led Arcadia with 16 points, while Stoner netted 14 and Brubaker added 10.
Ada canned 19 two-point field goals. The Bulldogs drained five triples and converted three of eight free throws (38 percent).
The Redskins connected on 12 two-pointers and splashed seven trifectas. They also sank 10 of 13 foul shots (77 percent).
Ada improved to 2-1 at home with the comeback win. They outscored Arcadia 10-2 in transition.
|
ADA ARCADIA |
1 11 12 |
2 11 16 |
3 17 11 |
4 11 11 |
OT 6 5 |
FINAL 56 55 |
JV: Ada 49, Arcadia 17.
The Bulldogs remain tied atop the conference standings with perennial power Liberty-Benton heading into their showdown next week. Unbeaten Arlington is 10-0 overall and 3-0 in the league.
Ada hosts the co-league leading Eagles (8-1, 4-0 BVC) Thursday, January 9 in a key conference battle as part of a girls/boys varsity doubleheader that night. Liberty-Benton doubled up Van Buren 66-33 Friday.
“It is nice to be 4-0 in the league going into that game,” said Sautter.
The last Ada home buzzer-beater came by virtue of a Spencer Wall lane banker that nipped Ridgemont in the season opener four years ago. The purple and gold also nipped Grove by a point in Sautter’s last previous season at Ada when Bailey sank a left side 13-footer at the horn to beat CG.
The Bulldogs rolled to a 49-17 JV win. Wes Mowery led the victors with 11 points.
Ada 56 (9-3, 4-0 BVC)
Oldfield 3 0-0 6, Dysert 3 0-0 6, Zimmerman 5 0-0 13, Green 0 0-0 0, Conley 3 2-2 8, Hickman 8 1-2 19, Gossman 2 0-4 4, Lawrence 0 0-0 0, Erickson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-5/3-8/56. 3-pointers: Zimmerman 3, Hickman 2.
Arcadia 55 (5-3, 1-3 BVC)
Stoner 3 6-6 14, Bronston 1 0-0 3, Brubaker 4 2-4 10, Green 7 0-0 16, Tucker 3 0-0 8, Colman 1 2-2 4.
Totals: 12-7/10-13/55. 3-pointers: Stoner 2, Green 2, Tucker 2.
PHOTOS by Mark Andreasen
