Blue Devils get revenge in overtime thriller against Sherwood

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`Once again, the Springbrook Varsity basketball teamed proved its resilience, beating the ranked Sherwood Warriors at Sherwood Friday night. This was the second time that the Blue Devils came back and beat a team that they lost to earlier in the season, and they are trying to prove that this team is just as good as last years. Despite losing their entire starting lineup from last years team, the Devils have the same record through 17 games as last year. But this was no easy win for Springbrook.

“Every time we went down, we just tried to focus on eliminating turnovers, playing as a team, and having good ball movement, and those things helped us come back and win the game,” said senior Aaron Burton.

Sherwood came out of the gates sprinting, taking a quick 6-0 lead in the first 2 minutes of the first quarter. But Springbrook was able to battle back and take a 3 point lead on a Vincent Brown 3 pointer. Still, Sherwood was able to fight its way back and they led by 4 points, 17-13 after the 1st quarter. The Blue Devils competed tirelessly in the 2nd quarter, led by Donovan Walker, who hit two 3 pointers early in the quarter, then 2 more free throws to put Springbrook up  27-26. It looked like the Devils would be enter halftime up by two, but Sherwood drove down the court with 5 seconds left and nailed a long jumper as time expired in the 2nd.

The score was tied at 34 the half, and the 3rd quarter went much like the 2nd did, with Springbrook never going up by more than 4 points. As the quarter winded down, both crowds began to get louder, as everyone anticipated a nail biter in the 4th quarter. The 3rd ended with Springbrook holding on to a 1 point lead, 47-46.

As the 4th began, the Blue Devils took an early 4 point lead, just to see it disappear in a flash as Sherwood scored 7 straight points to take a 3 point lead. Springbrook needed a burst of energy, and when an errant pass was intercepted, it looked like Sherwood might be running away with the game. But Junior Felu Seck came swooping in and emphatically glassed the Sherwood player as he went in for an open layup. The Springbrook crowd roared to life, and the Springbrook team seemed to play with a newfound energy.  Back to back threes by Walker and Seck put the Devils up by 3, 59-56. After a Sherwood putback, Seck was fouled on a 3 pointer and made all 3 free throws with 1:20 left. Springbrook tried to nurse their 4 point lead, but Sherwood fought back and tied the game at 62 with 30 seconds left. After a Walker miss, there was a jump ball awarded to Springbrook with 5.3 seconds. The ball was inbounded to Vincent Brown, who missed a runner as time expired to send the game to overtime.

In OT, the Blue Devils took an early 5 point lead after a Walker 3 pointer and a long 2 point jumper. But once again, Sherwood clawed back and cut the Springbrook lead to 1 with two layups. The Warriors had a chance to take the lead, but Donovan Walker blocked their shot off of the backboard. Senior Jabree Ray was then fouled twice, and he came up clutch, hitting 3 of 4 free throws to put Springbrook up 70-66. Walker then sealed the game with 3 more free throws after a Sherwood putback layup. Those 3 free throws at the end of the game gave him 28 points, 15 of whom came from behind the 3 point line.

This was a huge win against rival Sherwood, and this put the Blue Devils at 15-2 for the season, having won their last 7 games.