The Swish: Wild finishes and long streaks snapped in an exciting week of high school hoops
Was it 11 years or 12? Ninety-two games or 89?
A few different figures were tossed around by Durham Academy and Ravenscroft after the Cavaliers snapped the Ravens’ lengthy win streak against conference teams, but both agreed on one thing: the 53-43 win by DA was historic.
Wild finish
Jayvis Harvey of Kestrel Heights scored eight of his 15 points in the final 30 seconds to defeat Voyager Academy 74-72 in a controversial finish on Saturday.
Harvey hit a 3 to cut the lead to one, but Voyager responded with free throws. Harvey responded with another 3 to tie it.
Voyager had possession with 12 seconds remaining, but a rushed shot went out of bounds, giving Kestrel Heights a chance to win it with 3 seconds left. Javier Rogers’ half-court attempt went off the backboard and into the hands of Harvey.
Players on both sides stopped, expecting the three seconds to have ticked off the clock. But Harvey got the put-back off as the buzzer sounded – but with the clock frozen at 0.8 seconds – sending the home crowd into a frenzy.
While the victory should have been a reason for celebration for Kestrel Heights, the postgame melee turned things sour. Voyager Academy coach Mike Huff was upset with the timekeeper, who he believes failed to start the clock twice on Kestrel Heights’ final two possessions.
“All I said was, ‘Start the clock,’ ” Huff said. “He jumped up in my face, started chesting me up, and that’s when everyone started going crazy.”
Things didn’t calm down until the players and coaches left for their respective locker rooms.
The Starting 5
Five standouts from the past week.
Girls
Jayla Bullock, Beddingfield: Scored 21 points in a 49-43 loss to North Johnston on Wednesday.
Kelly Fitzgerald, Green Hope: Scored 20 points in a 51-43 win over Panther Creek Friday.
Sisalynn Norman, Millbrook: Scored 18 in a 57-29 win over Broughton Friday.
Jada Peebles, Wakefield: Scored 22 points in a 54-41 win over Wake Forest Friday.
Izzy Strigel, Durham Academy: Scored 17 in a 52-37 loss to Ravenscroft to break the 1,000-point mark in her career.
Boys
Tobias Cooper, Beddingfield: Scored 25 points in a 69-68 win over North Johnston on Wednesday.
Connor Crabtree, Orange: Hit the buzzer-beater to finish with 34 points in an 80-79 win over Southern Durham on Friday.
Will Harkins, Green Hope: Scored a school-record 32 points in an 83-72 win over Panther Creek Friday.
Maurice Wilcox, Neuse Christian: Scored 42 points in a 102-94 loss to Cape Fear Christian on Friday.
Jordan Whitfield, Millbrook: Had the game-winner in the final seconds and scored 11 points to beat Broughton 65-63 on Friday.
Top games
Game times vary, usually 5:30 and 7 p.m. for varsity doubleheaders or 6 and 8 p.m. for JV/varsity quads. When the boys and girls play at separate sites, the varsity game times are either 6:30 or 7 p.m.
Tuesday: Green Hope at Apex (boys only); Apex at Green Hope (girls only); Panther Creek at Holly Springs (girls only); Raleigh Christian at Friendship Christian (boys only); Cary Christian at St. David’s; Broughton at Sanderson; Hillside at Riverside; Wakefield at Millbrook; Heritage at Wake Forest; Garner at Clayton; Cardinal Gibbons at Jordan; Warren County at South Granville; Nash Central at Fike; Durham School of the Arts at NCSSM; Farmville Central at North Johnston.
Wednesday: Ravenscroft at Word of God; Holly Springs at Green Hope (girls only); Athens Drive at Cary; Leesville Road at Wake Forest; Smithfield-Selma at Western Harnett.
Thursday: Research Triangle at Raleigh Charter; South Granville at Franklinton.
Jeremy Lambert, Dan Way, Logan Ulrich, Mike Potter, David Justice, Geoff Neville, Andrew Tie and Dave Malenick contributed.
This story was originally published January 30, 2017 at 9:28 PM with the headline "The Swish: Wild finishes and long streaks snapped in an exciting week of high school hoops."