“Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”
Words made famous by the great Al Michaels when he broadcasted perhaps the greatest upset in sports history when the United States Hockey team defeated Russia in the 1980 Winter Olympics. The USA upset of the Soviets was the most inprobable win in Olympic and perhaps sports history.
Last night’s Charleston win cannot be labeled as an upset. But the Tigers refused to give up to a determined team from Elkins who clearly came to town to take the important conference game for first place from the Tigers. And with 3.5 seconds to go in the game, it appeared that Charleston had battled tough all night, but the win was not to be for the Tigers.
And then it happened. Charleston’s own version of the Lake Placid miracle on ice.
Down 50-48 to Elkins with 3.5 seconds to go in the game, Charleston freshman, Brandon Scott, took the inbounds pass on the opposite end line from his basket and dribbled to a point just shy of the top of his basket’s three point arc. He had to go the entire distance of the court and hit a three point shot to win, or a two point shot to send the game into overtime.
The pictures below tell the story. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and this must have been the circumstance that whoever first said that expression had in mind when they said it. The pictures tell the story of an improbable win, and state the case why athletes are coached to never give up.
After the game, Charleston coach B.J. Ross, who had successfully called a time-out to give the Tigers a chance at 3.5 seconds, talked about the strategy that led to Scott’s opportunity for the shot. During the time out, “we talked to the kids about racing the ball up the floor and getting a shot off. I had a feeling that they would double-team Brayden Ross and keep the ball away from him. We told Brandon to push the ball and try and get to the lane for a shot. He pushed the ball and pulled up at the three point line and drained the game winning three. What a huge, clutch shot for a freshman.”
Scott narrowly avoided putting his toe on the three point line. He pulled up in front of the Elkins player who was guarding him closely and then launched a shot that will immortilize him forever in the hearts and memories of Charleston fans. When the shot left his hand, it had virtually no time remaining, and when it was all over, Scott had swished a shot that moved Charleston into first place in their conference by defeating Elkins 51-50. And as the bench erupted onto the court with Laura Branigan’s song, “Gloria” playing at Tiger Center, the Charleston Tigers raced onto the floor to hug and congratulate Scott and celebrate their epic victory over a very good Elkins team.
In addition to the game winning shot, Brandon Scott led all Tigers scorers with 16 points. Brayden Ross had 14 points, and Jordan Fenner added 10 points. Geoffrey Scott also had 8 huge points in the Charleston win. Coach Ross added, “Elkins is a really good basketball team with some great athletes. Our kids battled and hung in there when things were not going well offensively. We made some huge defensive plays down the stretch to get us into position to win. I think Geoffery Scott played his best overall game.”
The Charleston Lady Tigers defeated the Lady Elks 50-44 in a hard-fought victory for sole possession of first place in the conference. Although the Lady Tigers game did not have the dramatic ending of the boys game, it was also a tough win for Charleston over a very good and determined Elkins team.
Charleston had difficulty scoring against the physical Lady Elks. Charleston senior Payton Rucker took charge of the offense for the Lady Tigers by scoring 26 points and leading Charleston to the important conference win. Baylee King added 8 points in the victory.
Not lost in this is the fact that Charleston was playing a very good Lady Elks team who badly wanted the victory to pull themselves into a tie for first place in the conference with Charleston. Lady Tigers coach Jason Rucker paid tribute to Elkins. “We have to give credit to Elkins. They came in ready to play, but I thought we showed a lot of mental toughness when we didn’t play our best, and we found a way to win.”
With the win, the Lady Tigers improved their overall record to 16-2 and their conference record to a perfect 7-0. Charleston now has sole possession of first place at 7-0. Lincoln is in second place at 5-2, and with the loss, Elkins falls to 4-2. Charleston has return games at Elkins and a home rematch with Lincoln. Charleston is now ahead in the conference standings, and has the head-to-head advantage by virtue of their wins, giving them essentially an extra game lead in the conference race. The Lady Tigers are winners of their last ten games and entered this week ranked 9th in Arkansas in class 3A.
Oh yeah, in what should have been a sign of things to come on Tuesday night, the Charleston boys JV team won a double-overtime victory over the Elkins JV. All in all, it was a great night for Charleston fans!
Up next for the Charleston Lady Tigers will be a home match on Thursday, January 23 versus the Cedarville Lady Pirates. Cedarville enters the game at 3-3 in conference play, winning its last game at Mansfield. Cedarville is tied in the conference loss column with West Fork for fourth place.
Although there is a lot of basketball left to play in the final month of the regular season, Charleston is clearly on an upward trend and looks to be playing their best basketball as they approach the post-season tournaments. The Lady Tigers are a good, deep, and experienced team. And as they showed last night in a game in which they did not play their best basketball, they were still good enough to defeat a very good Elkins team that will likely be a playoff team themselves. On any given night, there are multiple Lady Tigers that can step up and lead the team to victory. With all of the past success of this program, I still believe this team does not fully know how good they can be. I believe the Lady Tigers can make a state title run if they continue to improve and play in the direction they have shown in the month of January.
And after their epic last-second win, the Charleston boys team continues to surprise some around the conference. Charleston is now 9-5 overall and 6-0 in conference. The Tigers lead the conference over second place Waldron who is 6-1, and third place Elkins who is now 4-2. More importantly, at this point in the season, Charleston also holds the head-to-head tie breaker advantage by virtue of their victories over both Elkins and Waldron. The Tigers are winners of their last 4 games and are ranked 23rd in Arkansas in Class 3A.
This team has the “it factor” that you hear many coaches and fans talk about. They are not a dominate team, as the Lady Tigers are within their conference. But the boys team plays with a determination that sends the message to everyone that the game is never over, and somehow, someway, they will find a way to win.
As a reporter who has followed this team all season, I can’t help but to believe that the tough, non-conference schedule that both coaches play early in the schedule is a big reason for the success we saw not only last night but in other conference games, as well. No matter how things go in a game, they keep playing and keep creating opportunities to win. This winning attitude is forged in tough games with higher classification teams that make them unafraid of anyone in conference play and in the post-season. I applaud the Charleston coaches for being willing to potentially sacrifice a few wins early for a greater pay-off of winning a conference championship and beyond in the state tournament.
There is a lot of basketball to go. The nights at Tiger Center make fans wonder what set of events in the next game will top the last. Both Charleston teams will face tough road games against Elkins and Waldron who will be out to avenge the losses in Charleston. It never is easy, but as we all witnessed last night, the Tigers and Lady Tigers will show up, and they will find a way to win.
And thanks to Brandon Scott and his Tigers teammates, I have the song “Gloria” stuck in my brain!
