By Tim Ward
chopitupsports.com
Revenge! Forest Hill Patriots fans had this on their mind Wednesday night. Why? Forest Hill was undefeated until they played Callaway December 16, 8 & 0 and riding high. Callaway ended the undefeated season hopes that night with a 65 to 56 victory over Forest Hill.
Fans were hoping for an opportunity to play Callaway again in the tournament. Wish granted! But it wasn’t quite as easy as it sounds. After receiving a first round bye, Forest Hill’s opponent was Holmes County Central, a team that played them less than a week prior to the tournament. Forest Hill won, but it was only by 5 points.
Clearly Holmes County would not be fearful. In fact, one would surmise they had Forest Hill on their radar like Patriots nation had Callaway on theirs. The game did not disappoint. The Jaguars were leading by 1 point after the first quarter. Forest Hill turned up the heat in the second quarter and raced to a 27 to 22 halftime lead. Forest Hill would go on to “survive” winning 53 to 50.
Holmes County’s last second three pointer to force overtime, rimmed out. Forest Hill would not take any chances the next day, they blew Provine out by 20 points, confirming their spot in the championship game. Callaway, had a fairly easy route to the championship game. Winning 3 games by an average of 19 points, Callaway was pretty confident heading into the championship game. The game lived up to the hype. Sold out arena. College coaches were also in the building wanting to see this game.
Patriots nation got their rematch. After the first quarter, Callaway was leading 16 to13. Forest Hill went into attack mode second quarter. Scoring 21 points in the second, Forest Hill led 34 to 29 at the half. The third quarter was low scoring due to both teams making obvious adjustments defensively. Then came the fourth quarter. Trailing by 2 points to start the fourth, Callaway’s John Knight got aggressive. Knight would draw fouls and make shots from 3 point range. His efforts were matched by Mississippi State commit, LaDarious Marshall of Forest Hill. Knight would bring the gym to its feet with a thunderous dunk over a Forest Hill defender. Crowd goes crazy. Forest Hill races down the court, alley oop pass to Marshall! Fans on their feet cheering, coaches are trying to settle their teams down.
Back and forth they go, matching shot for shot. Forest Hill takes the lead on another Marshall slam! Timeout Callaway. 13 seconds remain. Forest Hill 61, Callaway 59. Callaway dribbles another 7 seconds off the clock. Timeout. Coach David Sanders from Callaway draws up a play. The pass goes to John Knight, he gets a screen from a teammate, raises up from BEYOND the three point line, Steph Curry NBA range, to shoot a three pointer. Marshall’s 6’6” jumps at him, full extension, making the shot even harder. As the horn sounds … SWISH! ALL NET!! Charger nation erupts, Knight is mobbed by his teammates! Callaway wins 62 to 61. Knight finishes the game with 27 points and is the MVP.
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