LCA survives on buzzer-beater

Basketball coaches are somewhat like the participants in a poker game. The winner smiles and details the winning strategy while the loser laments over what might have been. "Everything we did down the stretch worked the way it was diagrammed," said Lynchburg Christian Academy coach Richard Gifford. "If we convert our free throws, it's a 6-or-7 point win for us," said Virginia Episcopal School coach Bob Leake.

LCA survived two close calls and got a game-winning jumper from Gabe Lyons with four seconds left in the third overtime Saturday night to beat the Bishops, 61-60, and capture the Sixth Annual Holiday Classic at the Vines Center.

In the consolation game, Holy Cross (3-2) downed Timberlake Christian, 62-52, as Kevin Brady scored 18 points, Vernon Patterson 14 and Matt Lesniak 11. Marty Chandler had 25 for Timberlake (1-6).

In the championship, Kevin Becton made 1 of 2 foul shots to give VES (1-2) a 60-59 lead with 18 seconds left. After an LCA timeout, Lyons got the ball 20 feet away, split the defense near the foul line and hit a lean-in 10-footer to win it. The Bulldogs, 5-2, had a prayer answered twice before Lyons' game-winner: at the end of regulation, the Bishops missed three straight foul shots in the last 50 seconds (and 4 of their last 11 at the line) to give LCA a chance, and Lyons, who had 19 points, hit a short jumper with :03 left to send the game into overtime at 49-49. VES got a crucial 3-pointer from Tuffy Taylor with 40 seconds left in the first overtime, but the most crucial shot for the Bulldogs was by Jake Pearson: LCA, winning this Classic for the fourth time in six years, trailed 57-53 with 23 seconds left in the second overtime before Jamey Elder hit one of two foul shots for LCA, Taylor missed a chance to wrap it up for the Bishops at the line with :09 left, and Pearson nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force a third overtime. "We figured Jamey and Gabe would be overplayed and the skip pass to Jake would be there," Gifford said. "He got a good screen from Frank Stewart, got a good look at the bucket and drained it."

The Bishops, who got 21 points from Jeff Cook and 14 from Taylor, hit just 13 of 26 foul shots Saturday and were 9 of 29 in their overtime win over Holy Cross Friday in the tourney semifinals. "It's just a matter of being relaxed and a matter of confidence," Leake said. "We can't keep shooting thirty-some percent at the foul line." Named to the all-tournament team were Elder, Lyons, Cook, Patterson and Chandler.

By Dave Thornton, Staff writer
The News & Advance