TROY—After a rough couple of days where many Rockdale High School students were stuck in homes without electricity following the recent winter storm, Friday night was a high point for Tiger and Lady Tiger basketball players, who both ended their difficult week with buzzer-beating wins.
Early in the evening, the Lady Tigers led the Trojanettes for much of their contest. That was quick to change during the last four minutes of the final quarter, as Rockdale’s nine-point advantage evaporated and Troy went up 46-45 with 1:23 left to play. The Blue-and-Gold tied the game at 49 on a Saige Robertson three-point play with less than a minute left. But the tie was shortlived as Kaycee Cavanaugh helped THS regain the lead when making one of two free throws with 17 seconds left in the game.
As Rockdale pushed the ball back down the court, their hopes of victory seemed to wash away as a jump ball call near the RHS threepoint line gave the ball back to the Trojanettes with 4.7 seconds left. But in the game’s final possession, fortune favored Lady Tiger Ciara Miles as she stole Troy’s inbound pass and broke free for a layup to give her team a 51-50 win.
RHS head coach Danielle Froggatt was initially in a state of disbelief following the final play of the game.
“For a moment, I was just like ‘what happened?’,” Froggatt said. “I was trying to prevent our bench from being on the court (before time expired) because I didn’t want a technical foul, you never know.”
“But at the same time, it went in and we didn’t even know the buzzer went off, that’s how excited we were,” she added. “It was a good win for us and we’re just going to carry that energy going forward.”
Leading scorers for the Lady Tigers were Miles and Robertson with 16 and 13 points, while Mijah Crawford and Trinity Hurd put up nine and eight.
The win in Troy a lso increased Rockdale’s likelihood of making the playoffs.
“That was huge for us,” she said. “We have a great chance of ending up in third and we just have to do what we need to do, take care of our business.”
“We’re right there in the hunt,” she continued. “Us, Troy and Rogers and we’re excited to have that opportunity.”
THIS WEEK— The Blue-and-Gold also faced sixth-ranked Lorena on Saturday, falling 58-29 on the road to the Lady Leopards.
As of press time Tuesday, RHS has a record of 7-6 and faced Rogers later that night to see which team gets District 19-3A’s fourth and final playoff spot. Like the Lady Tigers, the Lady Eagles came into Milam County with a record of 7-6 and prior to the game, held the tie-breaker for fourth due to beating Rockdale 54-32 on Friday, Jan. 13.
Whichever team won advanced to the post-season. Also, if Rockdale won and Troy lost to Lorena, RHS makes the jump from fifth to third in the district standings.
If the Lady Tigers finished fourth, they will fac e Fa i r f i e ld, the number-oneranked team in the most recent Class 3A poll conducted by the Texas Girls Coaches Association, next week in the bi-district round. If Rockdale placed third, they will take on e ig ht h- r a n k ed Mexia instead.
TIGERS— Nearly two hours later, Tiger head coach Sean Lexima and his team were in a similar situation with the game on the line during the final night’s final possession.
Late in the fourth, Troy extended their lead to 29-26 with 2:59 left to play. Rockdale’s De’Andre Stephens tied it up on a three-pointer with 1:55 on the clock. Afterwards, Troy came up short with multiple shot attempts, leading to RHS bringing the ball back down the court with close to 14 seconds left in the game. In the end, it was Stephens who was the hero for the Blue-and-Gold, after scoring on a put back as time expired. The Tiger freshman and senior Chris Perez instantly jumped with joy before other teammates joined them to celebrate their 31-29 victory.
For Lexima, his mind was initially on wanting assurance that the shot did indeed count.
“I wanted to see if the officials said it was good or not before I got too excited,” Lexima said. “But I’m just happy for these kids, man.”
“The last four days have been hell for them with no electricity. Some of them were saying that the burger they’re about to eat after the game Friday was the first meal they’ve had all week, he added. “I think it was good for them to come together, camaraderie-wise and team-wise. I love the team and I love the heart.”
He also said the win came after not practicing for four days.
Top scorers for Rockdale were Perez and Stephens, who each had nine points.
THIS WEEK— The Tigers also fell to third-ranked Lorena on Saturday 72-33 and faced Rogers on Tuesday after press time.
They take on rival Cameron next on Friday. The Yoe currently sit in third with a district record of 6-5 and are coming off a 69-39 victory over Lexington on Monday. RHS lost to Cameron in their first matchup this season on the other side of the Little River, 71-48. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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