By Timothy Kays
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
FAYETTE – When a thoroughbred horse throws a shoe in the middle of a race, its chances of success at the finish line are, at best, poor. When Fayette senior forward Koby Biddix lost a shoe while setting up for a three with 1:09 left in their Homecoming night tilt against the Holgate Tigers, he didn’t let it bother him. His missile from the lower left side proved to be the margin of victory, as the Eagles held off a furious flurry of late Tiger trifectas to ring up a 24-21 white-knuckler of a win.
While the tough zone defense of Holgate was up to the task of trying to hold the Eagles at bay, they had no clue early as to what to do about 6′ 7″ junior pivot, Tristen Bates. His king-sized presence proved to be a pain in the paint for the Tigers all evening, but his six first quarter points, along with a trey from Alec Bost, had the hometown boys running away before the visitors could close to a 9-8 deficit going into the second.
The second period saw the Eagles continuing to press the issue on the offense, while their defense practically brought the box-and-one slowdown zone offense of Holgate to a screeching halt. Holgate found a way to corral the beast known as Bates by banging him around on the interior with physical double and triple teams, but not before he landed another deuce. Bost planted a field goal, and Biddix rained down a three to go with a pair of free throws to extend the Eagle lead to a half dozen going into the intermission, 18-12.
The third period saw the offense of both teams vying for positions in the local bricklayers union. It is a rare day when a varsity team is able to pitch a shutout at their opposition for a full quarter of play. On this night however, both teams clanked anything that was heaved toward the rim. The 0-0 third brought the final frame into play with the score remaining at 18-12.
Biddix drilled a field goal, and Bates put down a free throw in the fourth, providing a much needed three points, but they came at a cost. The physical approach on defending Bates took a toll late, as he was clobbered from behind in the lower right side of the paint, sending him down like a falling oak tree. He remained down in pain, and when he finally began to get up, his right knee was glowing red. The big man was done for the game, and Holgate began to mount a charge. An earlier three had negated the earlier damage of Biddix and Bates, and the defenses of both teams stepped up their games.
Needing a score, Fayette turned the ball over, but a fast break by the Tigers off the turnover proved futile as they too gaffed when opportunity knocked. The fast break was now in the hands of Skylar ‘Speedy’ Lantz, who drove into the center of a Tiger defense that, for the most part, was still trying to get to the other side of the court. With two defenders collapsing in the paint to deny the senior guard, Lantz kicked the ball out to the left where Biddix was in the process of simultaneously losing his shoe and picking his spot beyond the arch on the left wing. By the time that the closest defender could react, Biddix had already launched what turned out to be the insurance trifecta with 1:09 remaining in the game. The hometown crowd roared their approval as the Eagles went up by a supposedly insurmountable score.
Holgate, on the other hand, had differing ideas about the outcome…and they quickly put them into action. If they had only dispensed antacids, the final 69 seconds of the game would have netted the concession stand operators a small fortune.
Having dispensed with their slowdown offensive concept, the Tigers shifted their offense into a reckless overdrive, and it paid dividends. An off-balance heave from the upper right side went down for three. A quick fire from the upper left fell in for three more. The Fayette offense, desperate to either get something to fall, or a chance to kill the clock, instead found themselves retreating on the defensive again with the Tigers charging down for one final shot with under ten seconds remaining. As their long range shooters were weaving their way through the Fayette traffic to stake out ideal shooting spots, Lantz reached out and grabbed the guard advancing the ball. That tactic is something that one normally expects the losing team to pull in the closing seconds, but in this case, it completely upset the apple cart of the Tigers. With 6.6 seconds remaining, the Holgate shooters were forced to abandon their long range launch sites in order to get the ball inbounds. Once the ball was inbounded, nobody was in an optimal shooting spot, and the snarling Eagle defense did the rest, sealing the 24-21 victory, and sending Coach Todd Mitchell and his staff back to the locker room with more fingernails in their teeth than on the ends of their fingers.
“It was planned,” said a grinning Biddix of his game clenching three. “I planned to take my shoe off, and sit in the corner. Actually, I kind of just cherry-picked and waited. Then Skylar set me up, and I made the three.”
Lantz said, “I was driving, and I saw him (Biddix). I thought about it, and passed it to him. I didn’t really care if his shoe was off, because I knew he was going to make it.”
The play of Bates was huge on this night, showing that he has gone from just a big presence in the middle in his freshman and sophomore years, to a force to be reckoned with as a junior. “Last year, I really didn’t have that much confidence in myself. Playing over the summer, and the guards getting me the ball, I was making it more than I was missing. I got a confidence boost. Now if I come into a game, if I have the open shot, I know I have the green light from Coach (Mitchell)…I’m going to shoot.” Just what the rest of the BBC needs…a 6′ 7″ machine in the middle with which to contend, with confidence to take it to the rack. The Fayette faithful are not complaining in the least.
Biddix finished with a game-high ten points, while Bates left with nine, and Bost added five for the 8-3 / 3-1 Eagles.
SCORING BY QUARTER:
Fayette 9 – 9 – 0 – 6 – 24
Holgate 8 – 4 – 0 – 9 – 21
Timothy Kays can be reached at tim@villagereporter.com
