January 31, 2012 @ 9:22 am
Pheonix Waters hit the second of two foul shots with three seconds to go as the Wilson Rams edged the Lincoln Abes by a score of 52-51 in a Narrows League 3A thriller on Monday night at the Lincoln Gym. The Abes moved to 7-2 in league play and increased their overall lead to two games over Lincoln and three over Foss, which lost a triple-overtime thriller at Capital on Monday night.
“The seniors stepped up big time tonight, they knew it would be the last time in this facility that they had a chance to come away with a win,” said Wilson coach Dave Alwert as he saw his team run its winning streak to seven games and improve their overall record to 15-2 as they prepare to host Foss on Wednesday night with a chance to all but wrap up the league title.
The lead changed hands many times in the contest, as Tre’Shaun Lexing overcame a slow first half start to lead all scorers with 18 points - including 14 in the second half - as the Rams and Abes went toe to toe for 32 minutes.
Waters, who played all 32 minutes for Wilson, was reserved in the win. “Coach and I have a lot of trust in each other and I asked for the ball with the game on the line.”
With 17 seconds left, Waters took the inbounds pass and drove the lane where he was fouled. Missing the first of two, the pressure increased. “I didn’t bend my knee enough on the first shot so I made sure I did on the second one.”
Having his hand in another big play, Waters running 40-footer at the third-quarter buzzer found nothing but net as the Ram fans erupted as Wilson would take a 40-39 lead into the fourth quarter.
Never one to take anything for granted, Alwert will remind his team that they can not afford to overlook a tough Foss team at home on Wednesday night. “Our focus now turns to Foss, and I can’t say enough about the effort of our seniors tonight. Phoenix, Kevin, and Jaiden came up big against a very good Lincoln team on their court, they’re a great bunch of coachable kids.” The “Byrd” will be rocking on Wednesday night.
By Steve Mullen
