Prep Boys Basketball: Hawks lose heartbreaker at home
Jose Quintero Staff Writer @dd_jquintero
Feb 16, 2019 at 12:01 AM Feb 16, 2019 at 10:12 PM
VICTORVILLE — Silverado coach Michael Record walked into the locker room after Saturday night's game and told his team "they are CIF champions."
Record, holding back tears, didn't have the "right" words to say after the Hawks lost 55-54 to Fairmont Prep in the semifinals of the CIF-Southern Section Division 4AA playoffs.
Silverado lost after Fairmont Prep's Atin Wright sank two free throws with 0.04 left on the clock and his team down a point.
"This one hurts. I feel bad for the boys. I don't think the call was right," Record said. "It was just horrible. And I'm not blaming the refs, I never will, I just feel we were cheated tonight."
The Hawks (26-6) had a 54-53 lead in the closing seconds of the game. Jalen Hartwill shot a 3 with just more than five seconds to play and missed. Huskies' Kofi Aboagye snagged the rebound and tossed the ball to Wright, who drove for a layup. Wright was met by Silverado's Marquael Wright and the referees blew the whistle.
After a brief huddle among the referees, a shooting foul was called on Silverado.
"The crowd was loud but I knew I just had to keep my composure and knock the free throws down," said Wright, who led the Huskies with 20 points. "I do this every day so it was nothing new and just another two shots. With all the work I put in, I was ready for this moment."
After a timeout, Hartwill tossed the ball inbounds past midcourt and Aboagye tipped it out of bounds to end the game and send the Huskies to the championship game against Pacifica Christian, which beat Quartz Hill 69-54.
"It was hard (to address the team) because what do you tell kids that played their butts off and the game ends like that," Record said. "I was honest with them and told them as coaches we feel we have the answers to everything but we don't. So you try to throw a life lesson in there and say life isn't always fair. But that's something they won't understand and realize right now."
The Hawks jumped out the gate with a full head of steam, going on a 7-2 run. But Fairmont Prep (24-7) quickly tied things up on a 3 from Atin Wright followed by a quick layup from Aboagye. The Huskies quickly took a 14-8 lead after a deep 3 from Aboagye, prompting a Silverado timeout.
Hartwill dished an assist to Anthony Austin to end the quarter with a 4-point deficit.
The teams exchanged leads in the second quarter. Silverado took a 27-25 lead at the half after a steal from Hartwill led to a transition layup for Marquael Wright with 10 seconds left.
But the Hawks were held to seven points in the third quarter and the Huskies led 39-34 entering the final period.
As has been the case during their postseason run, pressure defense led to a quick 6-0 run and the Hawks retook the lead in under a minute. The teams exchanged leads until Silverado took a 46-44 lead midway through the quarter.
Silverado led 52-48 with two minutes left on a layup from Austin. But Atin Wright quickly responded with a 3 to pull within a point.
Marquel Wright sank two free throws for a 54-51 lead with 1:17 to play. Atin Wright missed on a potential game-tying three with 50 seconds left but Abel Jimenez snagged the offensive rebound and tipped the ball back in to make it a one-point game.
"We just became stagnant a little bit in the third quarter missing some defensive assignments there trying to get around their big guys," Record said.
Marquael Wright led all scorers with 21 points. He added four rebounds and two steals. Austin scored 14 points with five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block, and Kyree Manning added 12 points.
F. Prep 14 11 14 16 — 55
Silverado 10 17 7 20 — 54