Never a doubt.
When Steven Stoney responded to that particular post-game remark following the Harrisburg Cougars’ heart-stopping, fatigue-inducing 99-94 overtime victory over a terrific Lancaster McCaskey side Saturday at Kimber Gym, the Cougars’ confident senior forward wasn’t about to disagree.
Nor should he.
While Stoney’s driving baseline finish just before the lights flashed on the backboard at the end of regulation sent a high-pitched affair into OT tied at 87-all, James Ezell relentless work on the offensive glass in the extra session enabled the Cougars to rescue a thrilling season-opening victory.
Stoney wound up with 23 points, Jahaad Proctor checked in with 15, Ashton Cooksey-Easter pocketed 14, Chris Britton chipped in 11 and Shaquon “Shoop” Sheppard gathered 10 boards for a Cougars club that trailed by 19 (38-19) with three minutes left in the first half.
By halftime — thanks to a must-have spurt fueled by the Cougars’ frantic full-court defense and two wing 3-balls from Proctor — McCaskey’s lead had been hacked to 43-39.
Never a doubt.
Said Stoney: “We always think we’re coming back.”
Yet even though Kirk Smallwood’s unsinkable ballclub was forced to play uphill throughout the second half — poor free-throw shooting (24-for-55) certainly didn’t help the Cougars — Stoney’s lay-up off a Cooksey-Easter dish stretched the festivities.
» VIEW PHOTOS from Harrisburg's overtime win over McCaskey
What made that last-ditch effort even more remarkable was the Cougars went the length of the court off an out-of-bounds play with just 4.3 seconds showing.
Several moments later, after Ezell missed a pair of freebies, Donald Ralls buried two technicals to push the Cougars in front (89-87) for the first time. Ezell, who finished with 13 rebounds, atoned later with a stickback and a slick finish that upped Harrisburg’s edge to 96-91.
“Once we tied it up, it was 0-0 and time for us to open up a lead,” Stoney said of the emotion that spilled in Harrisburg’s upbeat huddle between regulation and OT.
Even though explosive lead guard Diante Cherry (30 points), smooth 6-6 big man Devonne Pinkard (22 points, 14 boards), 6-5 Keyon Cowan (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Luis Fuentes (10 points) all cracked double figures, all doubt was erased as soon as Stoney’s look fell through the net.
McCaskey’s Aaron Swinton, on a football recruiting trip, did not play in a rough-and-tumble game slowed mightily by eight foul disqualifications and 104 free-throw attempts.
“That’s the kind of opening game we anticipated,” Smallwood said of a Game 1 matchup featuring teams ranked in The Patriot-News’ state-wide Class AAAA rankings. Harrisburg came in lugging the No. 5 spot, while Steve Powell’s talented Tornado sat one rung lower.
“Lancaster’s a very good team and I think after being down, the kids responded well.”
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