Covenant’s boys basketball team was in control much of the way against Hargrave Saturday afternoon. The Eagles built a sizeable lead before halftime and appeared ready to pick up a key win at home.
But in the fourth quarter, things spiraled out of control and, quite quickly, Covenant was down and fighting tooth and nail to get back in it.
With some solid back court play form DeNeil Bryant and Quan Washington, the Eagles managed to pull it off, scoring six straight points to close out the game secure a 64-62 over the Tigers.
With under a minute to play, Washington cleared the paint and took his defender to the rack to pull Covenant within a bucket at 62-60. Washington then forced an immediate turnover and after an incredible save by Matt Shobe, Bryant drew a foul on a short range shot. He hit both free throws to tie the game up at 62-62.
On the ensuing defensive possession, Bryant tipped a pass attempt and Washington broke immediately to snag the steal.
“DeNeil had a good tip on the ball and I just tried to anticipate it and I saw the ball go up in the air,” Washington said. “I jumped to it and just finished the play off.”
Washington raced the length of the floor and connected on a lay-up with five seconds left. After a defensive stand on the other end, Covenant celebrated the come-from-behind victory.
“Last game (against Hargrave) they jumped on us and they got easy buckets in the paint,” Washington said. “So we decided we’d let them (try) to beat us from the outside.”
The adjustment worked early on, though the Tigers started to heat up in the second half, eventually leading to the comeback that in turn forced a late Covenant rally.
The Eagles had to pull off the win while weathering several injuries, including George Brumbaugh going down in the first half after scoring seven points in the first quarter.
“I knew that we were injured and there was a timeout and the only thing we did literally was we put our head in and prayed,” said Covenant coach Travis Johnson.
Shobe carried the load in the first half for the Eagles, scoring 12 points, before the break. The sophomore finished with 14, but made several critical plays.
“He is a huge asset to this team and he opens up the floor,” Johnson said. “He can actually play the three through the five and the lower down the number is the more he opens the floor for us. He’s also 6-foot-4 and that doesn’t hurt. His IQ is doing nothing but going up.”
Bryant finished with 16 points, with the bulk coming at the free throw line. He went 11 for 14 from the charity stripe.
Washington had six of his eight points in the fourth quarter.
Tyler Chisholm ignited Hargrave’s comeback in the fourth quarter with three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points. Robert Tubbs led the Tigers with 20 points including four 3-pointers.
Covenant, currently ranked No. 10 in VISAA’s Division II will try and build on their momentum when they take on Roanoke Catholic at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
