Huntington tops Hamilton Christian in closing seconds

Published 1:05 am Saturday, December 2, 2023

Huntington slipped by the host Hamilton Christian Warriors on Friday and advanced to the semifinals of the Showdown in the Lake with a 47-45 win.

With 40 seconds left, Hamilton’s (0-1) Seth Ned knocked down a game-tying 3-pointer, 45-45.

The teams called back-to-back timeouts with 10.7 seconds left on the clock. Huntington’s Keontae Kennedy inbounded the ball to Jacob Stewart. He dribbled to the right side of the 3-point arch and flipped back to Kennedy, who drove into the lane and hit a short jumper that bounced around the rim and fell in for the lead.

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Hamilton Christian got the ball back with 1.3 seconds left but couldn’t up with the buzzer-beater.

After trailing most of the first half, the Warriors got hot to start the third quarter with a 9-0 run. Senior Garrett Humphrey got a steal and took it coast-to-coast for a 28-24 lead with 5:38 left in the third quarter. It was the Warriors’ first lead since sophomore center DeRay Vital’s putback with 6:46 left in the third quarter was good for a 5-3 lead.

Vital, who led the Warriors with 15 points, gave Hamilton their largest lead, 33-26, midway through the third quarter. But Huntington’s (7-2) Jacob Stewart hit back-to-back shots to tie the game at 33-33, and Peyton Parker’s three put the Raiders in the lead.