RICHMOND, Va. -- High school basketball games are 48 minutes in length.
At this week’s state championships at the Siegel Center, with relatively few exceptions, each game has needed every second of that time to decide a winner.
Friday night’s Class 5 boys final between Highland Springs and Maury of Norfolk was no exception.
The Springers led by 3 at the half thanks to 17 points from Danzelle Coles before the break. But the Commodores outscored Reggie Tennyson’s Springers 16-11 in the third quarter and had taken an 8 point lead with under 4 minutes to play thanks to 28 points from Brian Alexander and another 18 from Adrean Newton.
“I think those last three or four minutes of this game aged me another 10 years,” said Springers head coach Reggie Tennyson. “My hair was already white. I think it’s platinum right now.”
The Springers came back behind Coles who had a game-high 30 points and Dorian Davis who scored 16, none bigger than his final three which tied the game at 62 with under 30 seconds to play.
Maury’s next to last possession came up empty, and as Khristian Martin hauled in the rebound, he was fouled from behind by Cam Jones-Hood. Martin hit 1 of 2 free throws, Maury’s final shot came up short, and the Springers had their first state championship since 2007 with the 63-62 win.
“These young men are special” Tennyson said of his team. “They proved it tonight. When it looked like it was done, even I was a little concerned. Quanye Veney said we were ‘Gucci’. I don’t know what that means, I’m 59 years old. I guess that meant we were okay."
