Aiden Suber stood at the free throw line Thursday night all by himself.
Usually both teams would line the lane awaiting a rebound or made shot.
This time, only the unusually tall basketball official was standing at the baseline while Suber stood at the free-throw line.
He was there by himself because there was no time on the clock.
He was there by himself because of an errant foul in the backcourt committed as time expired by a player from Bayou Academy. The foul put Washington School in the bonus.
Bayou led Washington 24-22 with zeroes on the clock.
Suber had been the hot hand for Washington all night. He led the Generals to a 16-6 lead at the end of the first half.
But things went cold for the Gens in the second half.
My son Shel, who generally starts the game with a couple fouls already to his credit, joined in the foul-happy action of the second half for the Gens. He did finally make his first field goal of the season while my parents watched on FaceTime. Serendipity, that.
There wasn’t a clean possession on the Bayou end of the floor in the second half and soon the Colts were in the bonus with shots coming on every trip down the court.
Mistakes started to pile up for the Generals as well as they went several minutes without a shot. They turned the ball over without even getting a look at the basket.
What was a happy Washington School cheering section got just a bit more on edge.
This game hadn’t been without drama from the stands. In my 30 years of covering high school athletics, I’ve never seen a parent threaten, loudly, from the stands, to bench their own son. It happened Thursday night.
The boy committed a foul on a driving Washington player and then loudly slammed his fist in the pad on the wall. The benching threat ensued.
While the mother was angry, what she, and most others, didn’t see was the most egregious part of the act. Her son tried to pull the player he fouled to the ground with his right hand. Luckily, he missed but then tried to slap the player. The mother was on the wrong side of the play to see it. It was an attempt at a dirty play.
I don’t mind rough play in basketball. In fact, basketball is a contact sport. I told Shel to make sure he actually hits each player he sets a screen on and be on top of the players he is guarding. But dirty is dirty.
As the score in the game grew closer in the second half, the chirping between fans seemed to be a little more directed to the fan bases than the play on the court.
That’s often the case and one I find to be pretty entertaining.
It’s like I tell my mother when we’re watching the Gators play, there’s nothing we can do here that’ll change the game. Same with yelling at parents on the other side of the court.
But it is funny and sometimes fun to do.
As the fouls piled up and Bayou was in the double bonus, they took the lead on the back end of two-shot foul.
It was 23-22.
Two more uneventful trips down the court for both teams led to another foul and two shots for Bayou.
The first free throw clanked off the rim.
The second fell through with 4.7 seconds left on the clock.
Will Avis grabbed the ball and brought it in to Suber.
He was immediately swarmed.
In middle school basketball, though the rules are malleable, defense can’t be played until the ball crosses mid court, except with two minutes or less in the game.
Suber split the first two defenders, but was nowhere close enough for a shot.
A few more dribbles to cross half court and he was mugged.
The horn blew just as the whistle did.
It was Bayou’s seventh foul.
Suber went to the line to shoot a one-and-one.
Nine sixth graders from Washington were huddled tight on the sidelines as Suber dribbled twice, raised the ball over his head, brought it back to his chest and heaved a two-handed shot over and through the rim.
It was 24-23.
After allowing the crowd to regain its composure, Suber went through his routine again.
He dribbled twice, raised the ball over his head, brought it back to his chest and his two hands heaved the shot over and through the rim.
It was 24-24.
It was pandemonium.
Then, in perhaps his greatest coaching move ever, Parker England declined an overtime.
It was the right call, especially since an earlier game had also ended in a tie with no overtime.
On the way out of the gym the Washington School players spilled into the cold night air in jubilation.
A lone Bayou player stood by the door with tears in his eyes.
“Don’t play dirty kid,” I thought but didn’t say.
Jon Alverson is proud to be publisher and editor of the Delta Democrat-Times. Write to him at jalverson@ddtonline.comor call him at 662-335-1155.
