We all knew what we were in for on Friday night when the Blazers walked across the street, practically, to take on the Colonels.
A hard fought, chippy, physical, boxing match of a basketball game where even the fans might exchange metaphorical blows. Even the schools seemed prepared for tensions to boil over and things to erupt.
What we got instead was a night I won’t soon forget.
An instant classic, full of great basketball and banter, but no fights, no ejections, nothing malicious or ugly. We got clean, beautiful, and spectacularly fun basketball.
The Colonels on their home floor walked away with a 57-55 win, but the game was more than that. It was more akin to a tennis match, or a technical boxing bout, one decided by points and not knockout blows.
Both teams, in different ways, went on runs and did what they needed to do.
Christian County opened up a double-digit lead in the first half making great passes, passing up good for great shots, getting to the paint, and making their free throws when given the chance.
UHA would stay in the game thanks to three critical threes from Gavin Grubbs and several other threes from Lemar Northington, Quinton Quarles, and others.
By the time we reached halftime, the Colonels had held a twelve point lead but the Blazers had fought back and taken the deficit down to three, 34-31.
We were were all aware the intensity would only grow and were so ready to watch it possibly erupt. It would, but in the best possible way.
UHA made a great adjustment to start spreading the Colonels out wider, not just to allow for more open threes, but to give them driving lanes and pull Christian County away from the basket making it easier to get second and third chance points for the Blazers.
Meanwhile the Colonels avoided panic, made their free throws, and most importantly put the ball, again, in good places to find the best shots.
Because of this, we started down the stretch of the back half of the fourth quarter, and it was like a top tier tennis match.
A serve returned volley, sent backhand, now forehand, so on and so forth.
Derrell Bateman or George Sanders would get a put back, then Grubbs would make a floater. Quarles would find space for a three only to watch Jordan Miles return the favor with one on the opposite end.
You could not ask for a batter game, or a better ending.
With under fifteen seconds left, the Colonels gained possession, tied at 55 and flew across halfcourt to call the timeout and set up a final play.
The inbound came with ten to twelve seconds left. Prince Northington would take the inbound, and initiate a drive with around eight seconds left. He was supposed to dribble handoff and find an open shot for a teammate. However, on his way to the bucket he got tripped up and started stumbling so he held on to the ball, put up an off balance shot and watched, did the whole gym, as the ball touched all four corners of the square it seemed. Then bounced off each piece of iron and rested on the right side almost as if it was deciding what to do before it finally fell through with under three seconds left and sealed the victory for the Colonels.
It seemed almost movie moment like.
The Blazers have no reason to hang their heads, they played a truly incredible game. The kind of game, with the kind of effort, they will win eight or nine out of ten times. It just so happened that the Colonels saw the ball bounce their way one time, in one moment, and it was the difference.
Both teams, much like their female counterparts, now must try and move on and not let this carry over and either one have a let down.
The Blazers have a chance to quickly get the taste out of their mouths with a game on Saturday against Crittenden County. The Colonels meanwhile must wait until Tuesday when a 10-5 Henderson County team, the Northern Colonels, take the trip south looking for yet another notch in their respective belt.
Head Coach Toby Miles stated unequivocally that he would be in his teams ear Saturday morning making sure they understood what lies ahead, and why Friday night was only the biggest game of the year, before the result. A new one now looms out there on the horizon.