Playing on the road against Columbia has always been a tough one for the Buchholz Bobcats. In fact, the Bobcats have not won a regular season away game at Columbia since 2010. This game was no different for the Bobcats, as despite not trailing for the last 31 minutes of regulation, they lost. And it was a heartbreaker. The loss can be attributed to a lot of things, their coach being ejected from the game with 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter, they missed 38% of their free throws, they committed 22 fouls, and they turned the ball over 12 times. But honestly, the game was won by Columbia being clutch in the heat of the moment, maybe a little voodoo magic as well.
With 16 seconds left in the game, Columbia was down 3 points, they needed a 3-pointer bad. Up to this point, the Tigers were 1 for 13 from long range, equating to an ice cold 6.7% from three. So it was looking favorable for the Cats in black & gold. Back to the action, the Tigers dribbled the ball down the court, passed a couple times, and were looking rather stagnant, their coach was not liking what his offense was scheming up for the final shot, so with under 5 seconds on the clock he called a timeout. But right as he called for the timeout, his player was going up with a 3-point shot, bang, right in. The coach knew he made a grave mistake as he put his head in hands after seeing the ball go through the basket. That wasn’t the last of the excitement in Columbia’s gym though, despite only 4.6 seconds being on the clock, a Tiger player hoisted up a prayer from 3-point range, and it went right in, sending the Tiger fans into a frenzy for the second time that minute.
After that, it was clear all the momentum was on the home team’s side, and the Bobcats looked drained. Overtime did not treat Buchholz any better than the final seconds of the 4th quarter did, and while the game did come down to the final seconds, final seconds where the Tigers stole the inbound pass and made a layup at the buzzer. Columbia now holds a three game winning streak against the Bobcats, as they will look to extend it to 4 when they play at Buchholz Tuesday, January 14th.
Standout Performances
Despite the loss, multiple Bobcats still showed out against the Tigers. Lucas Bhatia splashed in a season high 3 3-pointers as he led the team in scoring with 16 points and led the team in rebounds with 7 boards. Jacob Bromirski scored in double digits for the third time this season with 12 points on 6 shots, as he went 1 for 1 from 3-point land, and he led the team in assists with 3. Peyton Warring led the team in stocks(steals + blocks) with 3, had 6 rebounds, and scored 10 points, 6 coming from 2 3-pointers made. Evan Walker made his season debut, after an amazing football season where he and Buchholz made the Final Four of the state playoffs. Evan showed little rust in his first game back, scoring 6 points and hauling in 4 rebounds. Hitman and Ezra Olmedo rounded out the scoring for Buchholz, Hit with 3 points and Ezra with 2, both only taking one shot from the field.
Bobcat Stat Leaders
***THE STATS I AM PRESENTING ARE UNOFFICIAL AND MAY NOT BE TOTALLY CORRECT***
Points – Lucas Bhatia(16), Jacob Bromirski(12), Peyton Warring(10), Evan Walker(6)
Rebounds – Lucas Bhatia(7), Jacob Bromirski(6), Peyton Warring(6), Evan Walker(4), Davarian “Hitman” Howard(4)
Offensive Rebounds – Jacob Bromirski(3), Evan Walker(2)
Assists – Jacob Bromirski(3), Davarian “Hitman” Howard(2), Ezra Olmedo(2)
Steals – Peyton Warring(2), Jamison McTureous(1), Davarian “Hitman” Howard(1)
Blocks – Lucas Bhatia(2), Peyton Warring(1), Davarian “Hitman” Howard(1)
3-Pointers Made – Lucas Bhatia(3), Peyton Warring(2), Jacob Bromirski(1)
