Christian County High School basketball coach Dior Curtis had four words for his team as they trailed Webster County 62-60 with 2.4 seconds left in Friday night’s game in Dixon.
“I told them, ‘We’re going to win,’” Curtis said after his squad broke a five-game losing streak by defeating the Trojans 80-66 in overtime.
Sophomore forward Rahsean Stevenson beat the buzzer with a hard driving layup to send the game into the extra period tied 62-62.
The play capped a comeback from a double figure deficit in the second half for the Colonels (6-21).
Stevenson had a huge game for Christian County with 25 points, including 15 in the second half and overtime.
Senior guard Na’Darien Rowe put the Colonels on his back in the second half with 16 of his 24 points during that time. His basket at 1:21 left in regulation brought the Colonels to within 58-57. Then he nailed his second 3-pointer of the half and fourth of the game to tie the game at 60-60 with 1:05 to go.
Christian County had several opportunities to take the lead but turned the ball over twice and Webster senior guard Micah Austin scored to give the Trojans a 62-60 lead late in the game.
With three fouls before the Colonels would be in the bonus, the Trojans fouled twice and Christian County got the ball with 2.4 seconds left hoping for the tie.
“I told Josh (Bridges) to try and get it to Na’Darien, but I told Rahsean that if we couldn’t get it to Rowe, he had to come get it, take two hard dribbles and get off the shot,” Curtis said. “That’s exactly what he did.”
Once reaching the extra period, the Colonels took over, outscoring the Trojans 18-4 to pull away for the win.
Christian County led early 8-2 but Austin led the Trojans (10-17) on a 16-2 run for an 18-10 advantage. Webster led 36-29 at the halftime and pushed the lead to 49-41 entering the final period.
Austin led all scorers with 31 points, including 19 in the first half. Reid McDeyer added 12 points for the Trojans.
The Colonels will play Daviess County at noon on Saturday for Senior Night. Rowe and Kam Williams will be honored before the game. Airtime for the F&M Bank Pregame Show will be 11:45 a.m. on 95.3 The Farm.
Score by Quarters:
Christian County 12 17 12 21 18 – 80
Webster County 18 18 13 13 4 – 66
Individual Scoring:
CCHS (6-21) – Acree 9, Wharton 5, Williams 4, Bridges 9, Rowe 24, Jesse 4, Stevenson 25.
WCHS (10-17) – Austin 31, Bumpus 4, Hardison 1, Davis 7, McDeyer 12, Phelps 2, Aldstadt 9.
3-Point Goals:
CCHS – Bridges, Rowe 4; WCHS – Austin 5, Davis, Aldstadt 2.
Photo by Joe Wilson