3 points. A lead so small, yet so crucial with such little time left. The clashing of the drums from the Pep Band and the squeaking from the players’ shoes all were silenced with one shot. With nothing left to suspend the final overtime, the opponents were left trailing with no hope to win the game.
“I knew that we had a lot of fight in us,” senior Ashua Maya said, “I knew if we kept pushing we would do really good.”
The game started with Huntley draining a three-pointer that should’ve set them up for the rest of the first quarter, but Burlington Central fought back and challenged Huntley. In the midst of the game, Burlington Central were unrelenting; with a back and forth lead that Huntley tirelessly contested. Knowing that Central would have their best offense, Huntley heavily focused on defense to slow the game down.
“[We] came together as a unit and pulled through overtime after overtime,” junior Sheldon Aninagyei Bonsu said.
Even when it seemed like Central was encroaching on gaining the lead over Huntley, they tied the game sending them into their first overtime. However, this would not be the only overtime of this game as they went into overtime two more times.
As the lead shifted back and forth the tension in the air grew and left everyone waiting in suspense for the moment that either team would gain a large enough lead. Without either team gaining consistent control of the ball it would have only taken one shot and it could have ended the game.
“Christian Wilson hit a ‘dagger three at the end,” Aninagyei Bonsu said, “[He] played good defense … I’m proud of him.”
Christian Wilson shot the game winning shot in the third overtime putting Huntley as far ahead as they needed leaving Central unable to come back. The team was dependent on players like Wilson, and with no points to spare, they really pushed their limits, keeping the points away from Central for more than 30 minutes past a typical runtime for a game.
“We got a run-on win streak right now, so this is big,” senior Bryce Walker said.
The game ended with a score of 73-68 completely redirecting the trajectory that Central set. Huntley now has a 17-9 win record and 10-4 record in the conference, they have set themselves up to go far in the postseason.
Regardless of how the players played individually, they dominated the endgame and will continue to succeed for the rest of their season.
