Miracle shot doesn't count as Navarro loses to Kilgore, 61-60

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November 22, 2011

By Todd Wills Corsicana Daily Sun The Corsicana Daily Sun Tue Nov 22, 2011, 11:16 PM CST

Corsicana — It will go down as the timeout Johnny Estelle wishes the officials didn’t hear.

Trailing by a point and with 1.2 seconds left, Navarro forward Demarco Henry grabbed a rebound off a missed free throw and heaved a shot from about 80 feet that crashed off the backboard and through the net for what could have been a miracle finish for the Runnin’ Bulldogs.

The only thing was Estelle did call the timeout as the ball left Henry’s hands, and with that the Runnin’ Bulldogs were left with a 61-60 loss in their conference opener on Tuesday night at the K. and Ida Wolens Special Events Center.

It was a timeout almost every basketball coach in America would have made to set up a final play. And for the Runnin’ Bulldogs, the game shouldn’t have come down to a long heave.

For one thing, Navarro bricked free throws all night, missing 15 of them — four of them front ends of one-and-ones.

“You can’t miss free throws and expect to win,” Estelle said.

Especially when the officials were as whistle happy as they were Tuesday night. In all 48 fouls were called, including one against Henry with 1.2 seconds left that sent Kilgore’s Ashton Khan to the line for two free throws with the game tied at 60-60. Khan made the second one for the final difference.

If there was contact, it was nothing more than a touch foul, not one you would usually see called at the end of a game. Then again, the officials also called technical fouls on each team in the final 6:39 of the game, including one on Navarro for 1:32 left in the game.

Estelle wisely didn’t comment on the officiating after the game.

He did share his thoughts on Navarro’s erratic play down the stretch. The Runnin’ Bulldogs forced turnovers out of their press, but couldn’t convert, missing two crucial layups.

“You can’t miss layups and not execute,” Estelle said.

Navarro almost overcame all of their mistakes and misfortune. Trailing 36-24 with 16:25 left in the game, the Runnin’ Bulldogs went on a 17-6 run to pull within 42-41 with 9:02 left.

But they couldn’t get the lead, trailing by one or two possessions the rest of the game. Navarro did finally tie the score at 60-60 with 21.2 seconds left on Princeton Onwas’ 3-pointer from the corner of the arc.

That set up the wild finish with Khan driving to the basket in the final seconds and getting to the line.

From that same free throw line, Henry heaved up a prayer after Khan gave his team the lead.

The officials huddled up to make sure Estelle called the timeout before Henry’s miracle shot. The verdict was the timeout was made.

Estelle drew up a final play but Onwas’ pass was intercepted by Kilgore.

And a thrilling finish turned out to be an anti-climatic one.

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Miracle shot doesn't count as Navarro loses to Kilgore, 61-60

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