by RAFEL MARQUEZ
The Hays Rebels and the Kerrville Tivy Antlers faced off in what was a “win it to stay in it” situation for the Rebels. The two teams were very evenly matched both offensively and defensively. Despite a Herculean effort by both teams, the Hays Rebels walked away with the win after three overtime periods.
The final score – Hays 66, Kerrville Tivy 61.
The scoring started from the beginning whistle. Both teams managed to score two points within the first 30 seconds of the game. From then on, the Tivy Antlers would take and hold on to the lead and would not relinquish it for the first three quarters of regular play.
During the first two quarters of play, Tivy was methodical and would take their time to set up their shots. At times it seemed as if the game had stopped while the Tivy players figured out where they were supposed to be. The Rebel defense just waited for them to get setup.
Offensively, during the first half, the Rebels seemed a bit rushed and disorganized. Where Tivy was taking their time to set up their shots, the Rebel players were simply rushing up the middle and trying to score points on their own. The Rebels took a lot of shots towards the basket, but the majority of them missed.
At the half, Tivy led Hays by six points – Hays 24, Tivy 30.
When the second half started, both the crowd in the gym and the Hays defense on the court stepped it up. They were no longer waiting for Tivy to set up their shots and were relentless applying pressure on the Antlers.
The Rebels dialed up the intensity during the third quarter but they still trailed by two points, 36-38, at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
The defensive pressure on Tivy began to pay off during the fourth quarter when the Rebels took the lead for the first time during the game. The Rebels were using every play in their repertoire to put points on the board and it was working for them.
With 50 seconds left in the regular period, the score stood at Hays 48 and Tivy 46.
The Rebels tried to maintain possession of the ball away from Tivy but with 12 seconds left in the game, the Rebels were called for a double dribble foul and Tivy immediately called a timeout.
When play resumed, Tivy managed to sink a two-point basket just before the buzzer went off and tied the game at 48 points each.
During overtime, both teams went all in on both sides of the ball. At the end of the first overtime period, the score stood at 53 all.
At the end of the second overtime period, the score was 55 all. The only scoring that happened during the second OT period happened from the free throw line.
In the third overtime period, both teams were starting to show signs of wear. Their passes were getting sloppy as were their shots to the basket.
The tide turned decisively in Hays favor after Jacob Rodriguez was fouled at the 3:31 minute mark. Rodriguez sank both baskets and put Hays up by two.
As time wound down to the one-minute mark, the score was 61-59 with the Rebels in the lead. Hays again tried to keep possession of the ball away from Tivy to try to wind down the clock.
Steven Jass for Hays brought the score to 63-59 with 35 seconds left in the game. Nathaniel Alvarado made another basket for Hays making it 65-59.
On a very fast break, Zach Buerby would make the final score for Tivy. He brought the score to 65-61 with only a few seconds left. During the next play, Hays’ Nathaniel Alvarado would collect a foul while driving up the middle of the court. Alvarado scored the last point of the game from the free throw line, making the final score Hays 66, Tivy 61.
Hays boys basketball head coach Dean McMullen said, “The longer the game went, the more confident I was in our guys that we were going to finish with the win,” adding that “this was a great team victory” for Hays.
Next up for Hays is a “play in” game against Boerne Champion.
