Boys Basketball: Clifton Central edges Reed-Custer
By Mike Fitzgerald For Sun-Times Media December 22, 2012 12:08AM
Updated: January 24, 2013 6:36AM
Reed-Custer got the look it wanted.
Unfortunately for the Comets, they didn’t get the result they were seeking.
A would-be game-tying three-point shot by Connor Anderson clanked off the rim as time wound down, allowing visiting Clifton Central to pull out a 70-67 victory Friday night.
“We set the double-screen for Connor and Travis (Schoonover) walked down the block and pulled out and was open,” Comets coach Mark Porter said. “We kind of looked right at Connor and gave it away. It was a deep three, and he had a couple of guys on him, but we got a look at the basket.”
Reed-Custer (2-9) trailed 46-36 with 4:25 to play in the third quarter before mounting a rally. The Comets, who forced 17 second-half turnovers, finally went ahead at 62-60 on an Anderson three-pointer with two minutes to play in the game.
“We’ve found that we’re not out of ballgames with the way we play,” Porter said.
The Comets led 65-60 before Clifton Central hit back-to-back three-pointers in a 24-second span to take a 66-65 lead. Reed-Custer trailed 69-67 with 7.6 seconds left when the Comets’ Tyler Allen stole an inbounds pass and passed the ball to Anderson, who launched a three-point shot from the left corner.
“The real look we had was when we were down two and we got a steal and Connor had a look right in the corner,” Porter said. “With Connor that’s usually money, but it just didn’t go down. He’s knocked down twice as many threes as anybody we have.”
After a free throw made it 70-67 in favor Clifton Central, Anderson had that final three-point try that bounced off the rim.
Tyler Foote scored 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for Reed-Custer. Anderson finished with 10 points.
