He thought it was going in — twice.
Blake Martin had two looks at the game-tying basket in the waning moments, but both of the senior’s shots bounced off the rim as the Packer Collegiate Institute fell 43–40 to the Dwight School in the New York State Association of Independent Schools ‘B’ final on Feb. 27.
On both plays, Martin was certain he was going to be the hero, and couldn’t mask his disappointment as the final buzzer sounded.
“I practice those shots all the time. I came around and it looked good, they both looked on line,” said Martin, who finished with 13 points. “The first one was short and then the second one I thought it was going to kind of trickle in, but it just hit and bounced out.”
The Pelicans struggled early as Dwight jumped out to a 16–2 lead midway through the first quarter. It was a frustrating start for Packer — which moved up to the ‘B’ level this season after clinching a ‘C’ title last year — and head coach George Boutis did his best to spark his team from the sidelines.
“We got ourselves in a hole and it’s hard to come back from that,” Boutis said. “It’s a big disappointment because we’ve played better than that. I don’t mind losing, but I do mind losing when we don’t play like we want to win.”
Packer’s offense couldn’t hit its stride for much of the first half, and the squad went into the break trailing by six points.
“We had some good looks. We just didn’t convert on them,” senior Matthew Coletta said. “We kind of woke up in the second half, but Dwight’s a great team.”
Sparked by a strong defensive effort, the Pelicans tied the game on a Martin jump shot with 11 seconds left in the third quarter, and felt confident heading into the fourth.
“We just had to keep it going,” Martin said of Packer’s late-game mindset. “I really just give all the props to Dwight.”
Coletta gave Packer its first lead of the night on a three-point play with 6:37 to play, but Dwight regained control with five quick points by sophomore guard Dajuan Piper. The Pelicans closed to within one point — on a pair of Coletta free throws — with 1:06 left, but Piper shot 3-for-4 from the free throw line in the final 25 seconds to wrap up the victory.
Despite the loss, Boutis found a silver lining.
“I can’t say enough about this year’s seniors,” he said. “These guys are resilient and gritty and I know they’re disappointed, but they’ve done so much for this team and this program.”
