For the first time since the middle of last February, Bellefontaine’s boys basketball team celebrated a victory Tuesday night.
The Chiefs earned their first victory of the this season, surviving a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer by host Graham to hang on for a 52-51 victory. Bellefontaine is now 1-17, while the Falcons drop to 2-17.
“To be able to see these guys celebrate means everything,” said BHS head coach Jason Calton. “They deserve this so much. They have never quit. They have battled and battled all season, and tonight it was our turn to walk off the court celebrating.” It was a suspenseful first victory for Bellefontaine.
The Chiefs led by 10 points at the 3:32 mark of the third quarter, but Graham rallied to go ahead 46-45 with 4:57 left in the game.
Bellefontaine used a 4-0 spurt to lead 49-46 with 3:22 remaining. The two teams then traded buckets to make it a 51-48 game with 1:58 left.
The Chiefs missed the front end of two 1-and-1 opportunities before the Falcons knotted the score at 51-51 when Zach Vanscoy converted a three-point play with 1:05 left on the clock.
After empty possessions by both squads, Bellefontaine got a rebound with 15 ticks left and dribbled into its half of the court to call a timeout with 10.6 seconds remaining.
Out of the timeout, Chieftain senior forward Declan Ashcraft found the ball in his hands at the foul line. He drove into the paint and was fouled while putting up a shot with 4.2 seconds left.
Ashcraft missed his first attempt, but drained the second one to give the Chiefs a one-point lead.
Graham immediately called a timeout. Facing the challenge of having to get the ball the length of the court, the Falcons came up with a great look. They raced the ball up the floor in a flurry, putting up a runner from about 10 feet away as the buzzer sounded.
The ball hit the backboard and rolled off the front of the rim, igniting a celebration in front of the Chieftain bench.
“I thought it was going down,” said Calton. “We didn’t play very good defense there, but fortunately we got a break and it didn’t go in.
“It wasn’t out best defensive effort tonight, but our guys found a way to get a win. We had a lot of guys step up and contribute. It was a team win.”
Bellefontaine had its most balanced scoring of the season with three players in double figures.
Ashcraft, Carter Sterling and Hunter Warner each had 10 points and Maverick Calton and Jarrid Baughman chipped in seven apiece for the Chiefs.
“It’s always great to see everyone contribute in some way, and that’s what we had tonight,” said Calton. Vanscoy led the Falcons with a game-high 21 points.
In the junior varsity game, Graham won 51-44. Kaden Reames led the Chiefs with 13 points. Bellefontaine is back in action Friday at Springfield Shawnee.