Heartbreak in Huntsville

[wordman]

It was only 5:30 when I arrived at Huntsville's Paul Gohan gym and already the stands were filled with hundreds of Spurger fans and as the opening tip neared, the crowd continued to swell.  It was an awesome sight and they were ready to see some basketball and root our Pirates to victory.  Even before our boys took the floor, they were on their feet yelling Let's go Pirates.  All week long on SETXsports.com, people were going back and forth about which game would be the game of the week.  Forget game of the week, this would soon become THE GAME OF THE YEAR!!!!

After losing the opening tip, the Pirates took control and played their finest quarter of the year as they surged to a 22 -15 first quarter lead behind the hot hand of George Whittaker.  The second quarter was just the opposite as the Bremond Tigers showed why they belonged in this game by going on a 9-0 run and taking a two point lead.  Spurger bounced right back and for the remainder of the half it became a game of you make one, I make one and as the clock ticked down to 0:00 the score was knotted at 30.

Bremond continued its push jumping out to a quick 5 point lead to start the third quarter but back came Spurger and as the third quarter came to a close the deficit was down to two.  Spurger continued its comeback in the 4th quarter and with 6:20 left to play George Whittaker's highlight reel thunder dunk gave Spurger back the lead. The lead seesawed back and forth until Kacey Collier's 3 point swish gave Spurger what appeared to be a commanding lead at 51 -45 with only 2:30 minutes to play.  There was no quit with the Tigers though and with 25 ticks of the clock and nursing a one point lead the Pirates Chase McGallion stepped to the line and sank the first three throw.  When he missed the second Bremond corralled the rebound as they did so many times on this night.  The Pirates fouled Bremond and their shooter returned the favor by missing one of two free throws to once more make it a one point Spurger lead 54 -53.  Bremond grabbed the rebound and set up for another shot but then George Whittaker made his presence felt once again as he swatted a potential game winning shot out of bounds giving the Tigers the ball yet again.  Under their own basket,with 8.26 seconds to play, the Tigers inbounded the ball and No 24 LiDarral Bailey who the Pirates could not stop all night drove the lane and floated the ball through the net as the seconds ticked away.  Coach Isaacs called time and with 5.21 seconds showing on the clock, Spurger set up their final shot of the season.  The Pirates quickly moved the ball downcourt but as time expired the last shot of the Pirate season bounced harmlessly off the rim and the heartbreak in Huntsville was complete 55 - 54. 

The Pirates came with class and in defeat they left with class congratulating the Bremond Tigers on wining the GAME OF THE YEAR!! 

[Lazeek]

Sounds like it was a great game............

[cma123]

As the young one's of our days say, OMG, what a great overview/article of this heartbreaking game :'(.  Wordman you really know how to break it down.  Proud of our SPURGER PIRATES and Coach Isaacs, classy & talented group of young men .

[KHSAlum400]

It was only 5:30 when I arrived at Huntsville's Paul Gohan gym and already the stands were filled with hundreds of Spurger fans and as the opening tip neared, the crowd continued to swell.  It was an awesome sight and they were ready to see some basketball and root our Pirates to victory.  Even before our boys took the floor, they were on their feet yelling Let's go Pirates.  All week long on SETXsports.com, people were going back and forth about which game would be the game of the week.  Forget game of the week, this would soon become THE GAME OF THE YEAR!!!!

After losing the opening tip, the Pirates took control and played their finest quarter of the year as they surged to a 22 -15 first quarter lead behind the hot hand of George Whittaker.  The second quarter was just the opposite as the Bremond Tigers showed why they belonged in this game by going on a 9-0 run and taking a two point lead.  Spurger bounced right back and for the remainder of the half it became a game of you make one, I make one and as the clock ticked down to 0:00 the score was knotted at 30.

Bremond continued its push jumping out to a quick 5 point lead to start the third quarter but back came Spurger and as the third quarter came to a close the deficit was down to two.  Spurger continued its comeback in the 4th quarter and with 6:20 left to play George Whittaker's highlight reel thunder dunk gave Spurger back the lead. The lead seesawed back and forth until Kacey Collier's 3 point swish gave Spurger what appeared to be a commanding lead at 51 -45 with only 2:30 minutes to play.  There was no quit with the Tigers though and with 25 ticks of the clock and nursing a one point lead the Pirates Chase McGallion stepped to the line and sank the first three throw.  When he missed the second Bremond corralled the rebound as they did so many times on this night.  The Pirates fouled Bremond and their shooter returned the favor by missing one of two free throws to once more make it a one point Spurger lead 54 -53.  Bremond grabbed the rebound and set up for another shot but then George Whittaker made his presence felt once again as he swatted a potential game winning shot out of bounds giving the Tigers the ball yet again.  Under their own basket,with 8.26 seconds to play, the Tigers inbounded the ball and No 24 LiDarral Bailey who the Pirates could not stop all night drove the lane and floated the ball through the net as the seconds ticked away.  Coach Isaacs called time and with 5.21 seconds showing on the clock, Spurger set up their final shot of the season.  The Pirates quickly moved the ball downcourt but as time expired the last shot of the Pirate season bounced harmlessly off the rim and the heartbreak in Huntsville was complete 55 - 54. 

The Pirates came with class and in defeat they left with class congratulating the Bremond Tigers on wining the GAME OF THE YEAR!!   

Great analysis!

[HJ-HawkHecklers409]

It was only 5:30 when I arrived at Huntsville's Paul Gohan gym and already the stands were filled with hundreds of Spurger fans and as the opening tip neared, the crowd continued to swell.  It was an awesome sight and they were ready to see some basketball and root our Pirates to victory.  Even before our boys took the floor, they were on their feet yelling Let's go Pirates.  All week long on SETXsports.com, people were going back and forth about which game would be the game of the week.  Forget game of the week, this would soon become THE GAME OF THE YEAR!!!!

After losing the opening tip, the Pirates took control and played their finest quarter of the year as they surged to a 22 -15 first quarter lead behind the hot hand of George Whittaker.  The second quarter was just the opposite as the Bremond Tigers showed why they belonged in this game by going on a 9-0 run and taking a two point lead.  Spurger bounced right back and for the remainder of the half it became a game of you make one, I make one and as the clock ticked down to 0:00 the score was knotted at 30.

Bremond continued its push jumping out to a quick 5 point lead to start the third quarter but back came Spurger and as the third quarter came to a close the deficit was down to two.  Spurger continued its comeback in the 4th quarter and with 6:20 left to play George Whittaker's highlight reel thunder dunk gave Spurger back the lead. The lead seesawed back and forth until Kacey Collier's 3 point swish gave Spurger what appeared to be a commanding lead at 51 -45 with only 2:30 minutes to play.  There was no quit with the Tigers though and with 25 ticks of the clock and nursing a one point lead the Pirates Chase McGallion stepped to the line and sank the first three throw.  When he missed the second Bremond corralled the rebound as they did so many times on this night.  The Pirates fouled Bremond and their shooter returned the favor by missing one of two free throws to once more make it a one point Spurger lead 54 -53.  Bremond grabbed the rebound and set up for another shot but then George Whittaker made his presence felt once again as he swatted a potential game winning shot out of bounds giving the Tigers the ball yet again.  Under their own basket,with 8.26 seconds to play, the Tigers inbounded the ball and No 24 LiDarral Bailey who the Pirates could not stop all night drove the lane and floated the ball through the net as the seconds ticked away.  Coach Isaacs called time and with 5.21 seconds showing on the clock, Spurger set up their final shot of the season.  The Pirates quickly moved the ball downcourt but as time expired the last shot of the Pirate season bounced harmlessly off the rim and the heartbreak in Huntsville was complete 55 - 54. 

The Pirates came with class and in defeat they left with class congratulating the Bremond Tigers on wining the GAME OF THE YEAR!! 

idk about game of the year... HJ/ cleveland was pretty intense

[Guest stevenash]

If someone were smart, they would write a song using the title and subject matter in this thread and let someone like Mark Chestnutt or Tracy Byrd record it.  Since Huntsville is also the state prison, the story about a small town basketball teams disappointment could have parallells to failures of some of the states citizenry  as well.