By Angela Watts
Content Editor
(Check below for video highlights.)
When Langley senior guard Ryan Davenport missed the first of two free-throw attempts with :08.3 seconds remaining in Tuesday’s game at South Lakes, Seahawks Coach Darryl Branch looked up at the scoreboard after Saxons Coach Travis Hess signaled for a time out and had one predominant thought: “I can not believe we might have a chance to tie this game.”
Davenport, who was splendid in a 27-point, 7-assist, 6-rebound performance, couldn’t believe it either.
Langley had controlled the game from the start, holding an eight-to-12 point lead throughout. That, though, was until midway through the fourth quarter, when South Lakes senior guard Curtis Keys (team-high 23 points) and junior guard Travis Williams (11) caught fire and put immense pressure on their visitors.
“All of the sudden there we we were, and it was coming down to a free throw,” Davenport said. “They had snuck back right there at the end and made it interesting again. But that’s what South Lakes does. No matter how much of a lead you have, with their pressure and the way they can shoot the ball, they’re always in the game.”
Davenport went out after the time out and calmly sank his second foul shot, giving the Saxons a four-point lead that, as it turns out, they desperately needed. That’s because Williams took the ensuing inbounds pass the length of the floor and pulled up for a three-point shot that sailed through the net with just over :02 seconds to play.
But the Seahawks were out of time outs — and, with the scoreboard showing Langley ahead 65-64, out of opportunities.
Langley, which won all four of its games at the prestigious Torrey Pines
Holiday Tournament in San Diego last week, saw its record improve to
10-1 overall and 2-1 in the AAA Liberty District with the one-point victory;
South Lakes fell to 8-3 and 1-2.
“After that free throw you could see a sigh of relief from me,” said Davenport, who shot only about 60 percent from the foul line a year ago but — thanks to advice from assistant coach Brian Nelson — has upped that percentage by slowing down his pre-shot routine and focusing on his form.
“I was just glad the game was over.”
The Saxons were able to sustain the late surge by the Seahawks because of their early dominance. Langley, which in addition to Davenport also got 15 points from junior point guard Barrett Hunter and nine from senior center Ahmed Malik, jumped to a 9-2 advantage midway through the first quarter. The Saxons forced 10 first-half turnovers by the Seahawks while committing only one themselves which, coupled with key rebounds by junior guard Derek Baker, allowed them to extend their lead to 27-15 by half time. (Malik, the Saxons’ second-leading scorer on the season, did not play the second half because of illness.)
“I’m very pleased with the way we played down the stretch because the kids could have folded,” said Branch, in his first season as South Lakes’ head coach after 13 years serving as an assistant. “But I’m not so happy that this is the second game in a row where we scored just 15 points in the first half. We did the same thing last Friday against Madison. Our intensity wasn’t what it should be.
“And I’m not sure what I need to do to get then out of that rut — to get them to play as hard in the first half as they do in the second. … But I know I’ve only got two days to figure it out before Woodson comes in here Friday.”
The Saxons, meanwhile, are on quite a roll. Langley fared just 6-10 four seasons ago, but has improved each year of Hess’s three-year tenure, finishing 10-12 in 2005-06 and 13-13 last season, advancing to the district title game. Now, though, the bar has been set higher.
“We’ve been building for this year,” Hess said. “It’s been a slow process, but we’ve got a great program and we continue to get better. We just need to keep moving in that direction. It’s a long season … but the goal for every basketball team, and for us, is to be a better basketball team in February than we are now. And if we can do that, then we’ll go a long way. And hopefully that will translate into winning our district championship and competing for the regional championship, because that’s what our goals are.
“We need to continue to focus on that and keep our kids hungry and working hard every day in practice.”
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