Last 5 Seconds Go Silent in Hawk Loss to Navarro, 46-43
The Hawks could not get their last 3point shot off as time ran out on Canyon Lake in a razor thin loss to Navarro in Bi-District Playoffs, 46-43.
“I was very proud of our guys and how hard we competed. We certainly didn’t come out on top due to lack of effort,” Head Coach Lucas Chapman stated. “We had some guys step up and play really good games. Tyler did an outstanding job for us. He protected the paint and basket well and pretty much shut down their big man. Charlie (McIntosh) came in and gave us some great minutes. Jacob (Ramirez) played a really solid all around game. There were others too.”
Canyon Lake had the opportunities as the Hawks started the game with a solid first quarter but a repeat of their first game with the Panthers boomeranged after scoring 7 points while Navarro poured in 18 in taking a halftime lead, 30-23.
CL went 4 minutes shooting blanks starting at the end of that first quarter until the 5 minute mark of the second stanza.
The second half started with Navarro taking the air out of the ball which would be the best antidote for a come-back for the Hawks who were able to get steals and missed shots which had CL within a 4 minute span having the game back in their favor.
“We did a great job of coming out after the half and getting back into the game,” Coach Chapman recalled. “I was really proud of how hard we fought back and really took the game back. We never gave up and kept fighting. Our poise and toughness was really good tonight. Just a really tough game to lose, but that happens sometimes in sports and in life. We fought and played hard enough to win but came up short. Nothing to hang our heads about.”
Canyon Lake was able to wrestle the lead back with 11 unanswered points during that important 3rd quarter.
After a Ryner Martin 3 pointer at the top of the key with 1:50 to go before the final 8 minutes, CL had had their largest lead since that first quarter of 4 points, 36-32.
Jacob Ramirez had one of his best basketball games even if that accolade was not calculated in scoring points. Those 6 points helped but having 7 rebounds while dishing off 5 assists, his play helped throughout in keeping this game within striking distance.
Tyler Williams was the big man on campus with a stellar game in blocking shots (4) and keeping the Panther’s big man in check for most of this night.
The Hawks went into the final quarter with a 2 point lead after holding Navarro to 4 points in that comeback 3rd quarter.
For the final quarter, both teams had the lead and no school had more that a 4 point lead.
Navarro had a 43-39 lead with 3:43 left in regulation when Williams scored in the paint after an assist from Ramirez. Then Rory Preiss would score his final two points as a Hawk with a sweet drive to the basket in vintage Preiss style to tie the game with 2:40 remaining.
That was the final score for CL as both teams were cold until a short jumper by the Panther center with just :30 left in the game.
After a Hawk turnover, a foul to stop the clock that would give CL another chance with the ball to tie the score.
Navarro had made just one of their 2 free throws allowing a story book ending for the Hawks.
Coming out of the time-out, confusion gripped the floor and Hawks as the final shot was right in front of the mid-court line. There was some confusion as the CL was not able to advance for a better shot as the clock froze the players but not the time.
Canyon Lake could not get that extra push needed to make a trip to the second round.
A sad loss for a Hawk Team that was able to finally finish a season with a winning season and this Senior Class having a two year win total of 29 games. That does not sound like much for most teams, but for CL never possessing good results in that win/loss total, these two years has helped with a mindset that will allow future teams to advance this march.
Those first 7 years, Canyon Lake had totaled 10 wins during the district part of the season. In the past two years, the Hawks, have garnered 11 district wins which should help give you an idea of how far up this group of players have raised the bar.
The future will be in good hands as the holdovers along with a JV team that was able to ride a long winning streak as this season matured to those games that mattered.
Go Hawks and Thanks Seniors for a great ride!!
1 2 3 4 Final Navarro 12 18 4 12 46 CL Hawks 16 7 13 7 43 3pt tot rebounds fgm-fga fgm-fga ftm-fta pts or-dr tot a s b to Jacob Ramirez 3-8 0-4 0-0 6 3-4 7 5 2 0 0 Bennie Brownlee 0-3 0-3 0-0 0 0-1 1 0 0 0 0 Gerrit Wilkins 2-4 1-2 0-0 5 0-2 2 1 0 0 1 Ryner Martin 1-6 1-6 0-0 3 0-1 1 1 0 0 0 Rory Preiss 5-13 1-2 0-0 11 2-3 6 1 0 0 5 Heath McDonough 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 3-2 5 0 2 0 3 Charlie McIntosh 2-3 1-1 0-0 5 1-2 3 1 1 0 3 Jarred Rollins 1-1 0-0 0-1 2 1-1 2 1 0 0 1 Joseph Boyd 0-3 0-2 2-4 2 1-1 2 0 0 0 3 Tyler Williams 2-4 1-1 0-1 5 4-2 6 2 1 4 1 totals 18-49 5-21 2-6 43 15-19 34 12 6 4 17 percentages 37% 24% 33%