'Tis the season for wild, season-altering buzzer beaters. Today is no exception, with the latest rendition earning a team a crown and answering one of basketball life’s great questions: If a team wins on a backboard clanging buzzer beater without calling “bank”, does it still win?
The answer, evidently, is a resounding yes.
As first brought to Prep Rally’s attention by the blog The Basketball Diary, Ashburnham (Ma.) Cushing Academy edged past Barrington (R.I.) St. Andrews School, 61-60, to earn the New England Private Schools Athletic Conference title.
The final three of those points came on a wild three-pointer from just inside midcourt at the buzzer.
The shot, which was hoisted by Cushing sophomore Jalen Adams, rebounded in off the backboard and straight through the net, sending the Penguins (sidenote: how great a mascot are the Penguins?) and their fans celebrating in delirium.
“I’m devastated for the kids. They played their hearts out today,” St. Andrew’s head coach Mike Hart told East Bay Newspapers of Rhode Island. “We just didn’t do enough down the stretch to win the game. We played not to lose instead of playing to win.”
Yet they still would have won if Adams hadn’t hit that wild three, backboard and all.
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