Playing the Field: New Rochelle hits buzzer beater for the ages
It’s high school playoffs time, which often means a glut of buzzer beaters by kids whose high school careers are made with just one shot. But none — in recent memory, if not ever — quite measures up to New Rochelle’s buzzer beater with .01 seconds left in Sunday’s New York Section 1 Class AA title game.
You can watch above, and let’s face it you will right away, but let’s set up the craziness. New Rochelle trailed the favored Mount Vernon, 60-58, with 2.9 seconds left. New Rochelle’s Khalil Edney was inbounding the ball under his own basket with 94 feet between him and the hoop.
Edney was chosen to throw the Grant Hill to Christian Laettner-esque pass because he is also the high school’s starting quarterback. Only problem, his three-quarter court pass was intercepted. So, game over right? Not so much. Oops. Devante Banner, the Mt. Vernon player who intercepted the pass, casually tossed the ball forward — apparently to run out the final second. But Edney, the same kid who inbounded the ball, alertly snagged Banner’s toss and heaved the ball about 65 feet to hit the 3-pointer and win the game with .01 seconds left.
Mt. Vernon stormed the court, not paying attention to Edney’s heave, thinking they had won the state title. New Rochelle, obviously watching Edney, stormed the court thinking they had won. As both teams celebrated in dog pile’s at midcourt and fans streamed onto the court celebrating, the referees huddled to make the call. Without replay, they called Edney’s shot good and crowned New Rochelle as champs. (And thankfully, they appear to have gotten the call right.)
Edney is already making the rounds this morning, with interviews on WFAN and ESPN radio programs and stops on SportsCenter and the Today show. (Why aren’t you in school, kid?!)
Something missed in the whole craziness is that New Rochelle was trailing 59-48 with under four minutes to play. They went on a 12-1 run to close out the game and take the title.
Ravens running back, and now Super Bowl champion, Ray Rice went to New Rochelle and was quite proud of his former school after the epic finish.
CITY OF CHAMPIONS NEW RO STAND UP WE RULE WESTCHESTER #914
— Ray Rice (@RayRice27) March 3, 2013
By the way, Bobcats guard Ben Gordon — an alum of Mt. Vernon — hasn’t tweeted since yesterday’s pregame encouragement. Hmm, why so quiet?
MOUNT VERNON STAND UP! #LetsGoKnights
— Ben Gordon (@BenGordon8) March 3, 2013
Gotta love high school hoops.
Follow Metro New York Sports Editor on Twitter @MetroNYSports. He once hit a tremendous 65-foot shot … in his driveway … with no one watching. It was glorious.
