By: JaVon Hopkins
On Saturday March 7th, Ardrey Kell stepped into uncharted territories…. the regional championship of the NCHSAA State championship playoffs. This was the first time ever that AK has ever made it this deep into the playoffs. Many questions were brought up as to whether the team could succeed without the amazing senior point/shooting guard Devin Cooper. Could AK actually beat a team that was ranked higher than them in the tourney? Does Coach Craft have what it takes to lead his team to the championship? Will senior team leaders Rhyle Scott and Steven Santa Ana take charge and push the Knights to beat the amazing team the West Charlotte Cougars?
All these questions were answered with Ardrey Kell winning on a last second shot to beat West Charlotte 52-50.
The beginning of the game was controlled by West Charlotte. They repeatedly pounded the ball into the paint and made most of their shots and this pushed them ahead of Ardrey Kell. However, AK was fighting hard as senior center Josh Freud was grabbing important rebounds and power forward Scott and small forward Santa Ana continued to make basket after basket. This gave them a score of West Charlotte 15, Ardrey Kell 14 at the end of the first. The game remained tight and at halftime West Charlotte lead 28-25. Many fans and players thought that AK would take over the 2nd half as they did throughout the season but West Charlotte continued to play determined hoping to take their team to the state championship. So at the end of the 3rd quarter, the score was 40-31.
Then in the 4th quarter, the mindset of AK switched and the men began to play as if everything they ever worked for was on the line…because it truly was. The team began to push the ball on fast breaks and score easy baskets as well as play strong defense. They closed the gap to 1 with the score 50-49 with 46 seconds left in the game. So AK took the ball on the inbound and ran it up the court and try to find an open shot but couldn’t so Coach Craft called a timeout with 2.4 seconds left on the clock. In the huddle, Coach Craft drew up a play that allowed Santa Ana to get open on the 3 point line. This would be the last shot of the game and this shot could either win or lose the game for AK. Fans were sitting on the edge of their seats hoping and praying that AK could go and win this game. Then the timeout wa over and Seth Davis took that ball underneath the basket. The ref blew the whistle and Santa Ana got a pick and ran to the corner 3-point line. He received the ball and shot it quickly. The ball went up in an arch shot and everyone sat breathlessly watching. All was quiet and then all anyone heard was the ball enter the net! SWISH. The buzzer sounded and the crowd and the team went wild. AK had made history and now on Saturday, March 14th, the team will go to UNC Chapel Hill to go and play in the state championship against Garner Magnet.
Congrats to Steven and the whole team as they go and continue to play for another day. Best of luck to you gentlemen and let this amazing season finish in the right way, with a championship ring.
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