Falling short again
A region win once again eludes the Armuchee Indians.
The Armuchee boys’ basketball team had exactly what it wanted Friday — a shot for its senior on Senior Night with a chance to win the game in the final moments.
But like so many times this season, the Indians saw that elusive region win slip away at crunch time.
Senior guard Colton Stamey missed a potential game-winning layup with less than 10 seconds left in regulation, and Gordon Lee went on to win in overtime, 58-54.
The Indians finish the regular season with an 012 mark in Region 7-AA.
“Unfortunately, it feels like the trademark of this team is to put forth a maximum effort and then find such a disappointing result,” Armuchee coach Kerry Wildes said. “All year long we just haven’t been able to figure out how to close games.”
With senior center Dalton Sharpe out with a foot injury, junior guards Drew Cummings and Thomas Reese stepped up for Armuchee with 11 points each. But Stamey was the heart of the team, scoring nine points and two 3-pointers in the first quarter.
But the effort fell just short against Gordon Lee, who was led by Tucker Bradley’s 22 points and Hank Norton’s 18. Both players pushed the ball all night, finding success getting to the hoop before their opposition.
Bradley would score eight of the overtime’s first 10 points, mostly on layups and free throws. The last of those scores put the Trojans up 56-50 with barely a minute left.
Armuchee (5-16, 0-12 in 7-AA) led for most of the night, but the missed shot in the final seconds seemed to take the air out of its balloon.
Gordon Lee began overtime with a 10-4 run to put the game out of reach.
The Indians started the game hot, with Stamey’s two 3-pointers putting them up 6-0. A wellrun defense kept Gordon Lee in check most of the night, leading to an 8-7 Armuchee lead after one.
The Trojans (13-11, 6-6) began to click in the second quarter with a pair of baskets from Bradley and Norton.
But Armuchee, spreading the court as much as possible, got two 3-pointers from Cummings and only trailed 18-17 at halftime.
“We know that we have very capable shooters,” Wildes said. “When Dalton was in, we would use shooters to move players out of the middle. And with his departure we’ve needed help from backups, and that certainly worked tonight.”
The rest of the Armuchee offense came alive in the third quarter, as the Indians nearly matched its first half total and entered the fourth quarter up 33-30.
Both teams will play in the Region 7-AA tournament next week. Armuchee will try to work its way through from the No. 7 seed while Gordon Lee is seeded fifth.