ROAD TOWN, Tortola, BVI, 14th March 2011 - With the Red Lions holding a 58 -57 lead and Carey missing 1 of 2 free throws, having been fouled, Sanford broke forward, Carey made a deflected interception, which would have given the ball back to the Red Lions. The Officials missed the deflection and gave the ball to Sanford.
Sanford’s game-winning play was then set up with 4.4 seconds left on the clock. The Warriors called a timeout. Then, seconds later, Red Lion did the same as the teams set their strategies for the final shot in front of the vocal crowd of 3,439 spectators.
Finally, Deon Jones dished the inbound pass to his right to Trevor Cooney, who immediately bounced a pass back to him. Jones took a step to his left and put up his shot, which turned out to be the most memorable game-winning shot in the state title game since St. Mark’s Alex Karlsen’s game-winning shot at the buzzer in 1995.
“We came here to win the state championship and my kids gave everything they had,” Red Lion coach Tom Purse said. “Cooney got hot with his shots and Deon Jones, another senior, just knocked it down. We didn’t want to leave Jones [open], but the ball just found him.”
Red Lion Christian matched defending champion Sanford pound for pound in talent, height and athleticism. Red Lion’s Javier Martinez had put the Lions up 58-57 on an assist by Deon Edwin with 16 seconds left. Martinez, a 6-4 sophomore, scored a game-high 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting, sophomore Dhameer Bradley chipped in 14 points and junior Deon Edwin added 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Red Lion. Carey finished with 7 points and eight rebounds.
Carey said he was crushed after the result “all season long calls have been going against us and today was no different” he added
Carey, though, has plenty to look forward to with at least 12 College offers to sift through. He has sparked interest in high places including Boston, La Salle and Temple. Edwin, too, has decisions to make with plenty of offers on the table. Garraway has one more year to go and on his current form will no doubt be joining the other two at a top college.
Article taken from Virgin Islands News Online - http://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com
