“Shoot! Make the free throw, and she’s down!” yells Coach Ed Huydic from the sidelines. A few feet to his right, player #2 is cradling a hand wrapped in ice, tears on her cheeks. On the wall, two seconds are left on the clock. Then, player #11 runs up the court and with 1.9 seconds left, she shoots, and wins the game for the Wreckers.
Last night at 7:00 the Staples Wreckers took on the Greenwich Cardinals at home for an intense and physical game ending in a victory.
From the start, Staples was feeling pressure. Greenwich is a newly successful team, and with or without this game they will be advancing to states for the first time in fifteen years. Staples, however, needed to win two more games to advance. But after tonight, they only need one.
The game started aggressively with many players finding themselves being pushed and shoved onto the floor. Both coaches, Huydic and the Cardinal’s Chrys Hernandez, had red faces and were waving hands screaming commands at their players.
Wreckers’ Abby Lustig ’15 and Erica Stein ’13 both made huge contributions to the game, as they scored most of the points in the first half. Maggie Fair ’15 and Madeline Schemel ’15 also made some major passes and that helped Staples get the advantage they needed. Unfortunately for Fair, things got a bit too intense and she was out for the last quarter with an injured hand.
By the start of the second half, Staples was still down by four, with a score of 28 and 32 for Greenwich.
Schemel got hit again by a Cardinal and Allison April ’13 was pushed to the ground three times.
Greenwich had 12 fouls but was still in the lead.
Huydic screamed phrases like “Red, red, red!” or “C, C, C!” which might have been incomprehensible for the watching crowd, but the Wreckers seemed to know what they were doing.
A few free throws later the Wreckers pulled up and tied the game at 53-53. With only 52 seconds left on the clock, it looked like this would be the final score.
The clock wound down to 11 seconds left, and the game was still tied.
The clock then read 2 seconds left, and the game was still tied.
Then, the ball went to Lustig with 1.9 seconds left and in one glorious second Staples won with a final score of 55-53.
The girls basketball team has won 7 games and lost 12 so far, and they need one more to advance and compete for the state championship. That chance is Feb. 14th at 7:00pm in the Staples Gym where they will play Trumbull.
