Spartans pass by Lenox in final seconds for shocking win

LENOX – Fans in Lenox were in disbelief last with the improbable comeback by the Spartans, as an array of questionable calls went Monument Mountain’s way in the final minute, allowing the team to pull off a miraculous 55-54 win.

Spartan Head Coach Chris Unsworth attributed the outcome to his team’s hard work and smart decisions in the controversial victory.

“Some of those calls could have gone either way,” Unsworth said, “but if you are not working hard – no matter what happens it’s not going to have an effect, these kids made some great decisions at the end.”

With 3:22 left in the game and Lenox holding onto a 48-44 lead with the ball, leading scorer Hayden Zinchuk (21 points, 16 rebounds) had the ball and control of the game.

Zinchuk had single-handedly led the Millionaires on a 14-6 run in the third quarter, with her mastery on the offensive boards (10 offensive rebounds) and second-chance points.

Yet a late hard foul on Zinchuk led her to slam the ball on the floor – the result was a technical foul on Zinchuk, leading to two crucial free throws for the Spartans to cut the game to 48-46.

“That technical foul she got was ridiculous,” said Lenox Head Coach Nicole Patella. “Hayden doesn’t give up, she is our comeback kid.”

Lenox still seemed to be in control of the game heading into the final minute, when Liz Mitts (15 points) hit a tough lefty runner underneath for an and-1, to give her team a 53-48 lead with 1:32 left.

The Spartans didn’t quit and fought back thanks to Vanessa Troiano (10 points) free-throws, as she got back to the line to hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to cut the lead to 54-51 with 33 seconds left.

Monument pressed the Lenox offense, and the Spartans’ Kayla Aberdale came up with a huge steal, before passing the ball to Troiano, who hit a jumper on the wing to cut it to a one-point game.

Monument somehow found themselves in a most fortuitous position, as a ball tipped by Haley Korte out of bounds as Lenox crossed half-court went Monument’s way.

Unsworth called timeout and drew up a beautiful play from half-court with 14.4 seconds left, as Aberdale found a cutting Heather Hassett running along the baseline.

Hassett hit a short jumper to give the Spartans the lead (55-54) with 6.8 seconds left.

Lenox called timeout and drew up a play so they could bring the ball up to half court in order to draw up a final play from that spot.

Lenox senior Jaclyn Gigliotti drove the ball just past halfcourt and appeared to be decked by two Monument players before she could call timeout.

A foul on Gigliotti would have sent Lenox to the line with a chance to either tie or win the game with a few ticks left.

Instead, without a ruling on the court, Monument was at the line to ice the game. They couldn’t convert, and a last-second heave by Lenox was not even close as time expired.

“This is a big win for us after a tough loss to Hoosac,” Unsworth said. “We have had some lapses from time-to-time, we have been preaching playing 32 minutes because we are not experienced to take plays off – we are learning and we got a big win today.”

After the Lenox loss, fans clamored around in disbelief and shared some choice words for the officials as they walked to the locker room.

Patella refrained and put the game in perspective afterwards.

“We just didn’t finish tonight, that’s all,” Patella said. “We had to show some mental toughness and we did that, I just didn’t think the ball rolled our way at the end.”

Posted by Tim Davis on January 31, 2013. Filed under High School Sports,Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry