HARROGATE – West Greene was in search for its first region tournament win since the 1990’s, but had it pried from their hands in overtime as the Buffs watched their season end with a heartbreaking 57-56 loss to Cumberland Gap on Saturday.
The Buffaloes left Harrogate feeling like the win was in their grasp and then taken from because of some questionable whistles, making the season-ending loss even tougher.
West Greene coach Allen Tolliver said, “To be honest with you, it’s hard to beat eight. You can write it, I don’t care. If it’s a foul in the first quarter, it’s a foul in the fourth or overtime. It’s the same thing. I hate it for my guys to get beat like that. If you look at the foul count in the fourth quarter at one point it was five to nothing. If you’re going to call a hand check on one side, I want you to call it on the other. I don’t feel like it ended the way it should’ve.”
West Greene was called for 16 fouls to Cumberland Gap’s 11. The Buffaloes were called for five fouls in the first 3:16 of the fourth, compared to none for the Panthers. The most crucial call of the game was a foul with 0.8 left in over that ultimately decided the game. Then at the end of regulation Buffalo fans were fuming after a questionable no-call left West Greene off the free-throw line.
“Again, if it’s a foul on one end, it’s a foul on the other end. That’s my take. Everyone can disagree, that’s just my take,” Tolliver expressed.
One can only feel for Elijah Williams, the senior point guard who was at the center of both controversies on the court. Williams drove inside for a potential game-winning shot as time expired in regulation and was met at the rim and blocked before the buzzer. Contact was made, but no foul was called.
The Buffs managed to take the lead with 5.7 seconds left in overtime and forced Cumberland Gap to go the full length of the court to win. The Panthers did so, but missed the potential game-winning layup. Williams was called for a shooting foul on the attempt although it looked like he made no contact on his contest. Both free throws were made and sealed their fate.
“If it’s a foul on one, it’s a foul on the other. I think that defined the game. If you call a foul that Eli got fouled on at the end of the fourth quarter, he goes to the line and shoots free throws. Eli is an 86% free-throw shooter on the year. He’s bound to make one. But you swallow your whistle on that end and it goes the other way in overtime and you blow it. Just because it’s not a tied score and it’s a one-point lead. I may just be amped up in the moment, but that’s my feelings and I’m going to say I’m not the only one who feels that way,” Coach Tolliver expressed.
At the end of the day, the Buffaloes watched their season end in excruciating fashion. But West Greene could have done more to prevent it. The Buffs led by nine after the first quarter and led by as many as 11 points, but let it slip away by the third.
West Greene shot better than Gap, 49 percent (24-for-49) compared to their 38 percent (18-for-48). West Greene lost the free-throw battle. The Buffs shot 5-for-8 while Gap shot 11-for-15. Cumberland Gap shot almost double the number of foul shots as West Greene.
West Greene was led by Tytus Shelton with 23 points. Senior Ayden Lamons scored 14 in his final contest. Parker Arnott scored 10.
Neil Bunch scored 20 points to lead Cumberland Gap. Gabriel Daniel scored 13 points. Kolton Goins and Brady Harris scored 10 points each.
West Greene finished the season 17-13 (7-3).
Sophomore Tytus Shelton led West Greene in scoring and had a dominant first quarter. Shelton went 4-for-5 in the frame and scored nine points, the same as Cumberland Gap’s whole team.
He began with a three-pointer on West Greene’s first possession and nailed a step-back jumper at the free-throw line. Shelton’s layup helped break a 7-7 tie and Luke Heck’s three-pointer followed and made it 12-7. Brady Harris scored for Gap before West Greene finished on a 6-0 run with Williams, Shelton, and Heck making layups.
West Greene finished the quarter on an 11-2 run and held an 18-9 lead after the first.
Josiah Dawson made a transition layup to begin the second and created the biggest lead of the game, 20-9. Both teams exchanged buckets before Gap’s comeback started. Neil Bunch and Parker Arnott traded threes, but Bunch came back and hit another to win the long-range battle. Kolton Goins scored a transition layup in the final minute of the half.
West Greene lost the third quarter, 12-9, but still led 27-21 at the break.
The Panthers battled hard all quarter until they finally caught up with the Buffaloes. Neil Bunch scored a layup to start the new half and cut it to four. The beginning of the second half really set the tone for how the rest of the game would be officiated. Lamons took a bump on the floor and was called for a block instead of a charge.
Every time Cumberland Gap scored, West Greene responded. Neil Bunch scored two and Parker Arnott responded with a layup. Bunch then nailed a three before Shelton came alive again and drained a triple. Keaton Clawson scored with a layup and Lamons went 2-for-2 from the foul line. The back-and-forth ended when the Panthers ended the quarter on a 4-0 run and tied the game, 37-37, heading into the fourth.
Brady Harris scored in transition to begin the final quarter and gave Gap their first lead of the night. The back-and-forth continued with multiple ties and lead changes in the fourth. West Greene was called for their fifth foul of the quarter with 4:44 still to play.
The Buffs trailed 49-46 when Lamons came up huge. He went 2-for-2 at the charity stripe and then scored a turnaround bucket in the paint to regain the lead. He grabbed a defensive board and cleaned up the glass again on the offensive side with a put back to lead 52-49 after scoring six-straight.
“The kid played hard. That’s going to be a big presence that’s going to be missed a bunch,” Tolliver explained.
West Greene led with 2:02 left before Gap tied it with a three-point basket from Keaton Clawson. The Buffaloes successfully held the ball for nearly the final two minutes and burned two timeouts in the process of milking the clock.
The Buffs had the ball with a sideline out of bounds with nine seconds left. Elijah Williams drove in the paint and attempted a layup and that’s when the first of two controversial moments occurred.
Regulation ended with a 52-52 tie and overtime ensued.
Turnovers and offensive fouls were in abundance to begin the overtime period. The first bucket didn’t occur until 1:47 left when Arnott stole the ball in the paint and Shelton finished with a layup on the other end. Kolton Goins secured a layup on the third attempt and tied it 54-54.
Carter Stills was fouled on a tie up after an offensive rebound and went to the line for two. Both shots were off the mark and a foul was called on the rebound that sent Gap to the free-throw line at the other end. Gabriel Daniels went 1-of-2 from the stripe and put the Panthers ahead 55-54 with 35 seconds left.
The Buffs wasted 30 seconds off the clock and found the perfect shot. Williams drove to the basket again and found Shelton open for a backdoor layup with 5 seconds left to take a 56-55 lead.
The second and final controversial moment happened on Gap’s game-winning attempt. Neil Bunch went the distance of the floor and drove in for a layup and missed the shot. But a whistle was blown and Williams was called for a foul with 0.8 seconds left.
Did he actually foul him? Not many in blue and gold agreed with the officials’ call. But the smallest guy on the court got called for a foul that didn’t affect the shooters body.
Bunch sank both free throws and won the game.
Cumberland Gap picked up their first region win in school history with a 57-56 win over West Greene.
“I will stick to what I said at the beginning. There are not very many people that can change my mind on it if anybody can change my mind on it. I hate that they got hosed like that in the end,” Coach Tolliver stated.
Ayden Lamons and Elijah Williams are the two seniors on West Greene’s team. “Hate it for my seniors. Hate it for my guys that looked up to them. Hate that this is the game they got to go out on,” Coach Tolliver said.
The Buffs finish the season 17-13 (7-3).
West Greene was led by Shelton with 23 points. Senior Lamons scored 14 in his final contest. Arnott scored 10. Bunch scored 20 points to lead Cumberland Gap. Daniel scored 13 points. Goins and Brady Harris scored 10 each.
