Hylton Defeats Gar-Field in OT Thriller for Playoff Victory

The Hylton Bulldogs pulled out a close overtime victory over the Gar-Field Indians on Tuesday, winning 46-43 in the Cardinal District semi-final at Potomac High School.

Both offenses seemed to have trouble in the early going, each team missed some easy shots and lay-ups. Three-point shooting kept the Indians in the game in the early going, connecting on three of them, but proved to be the only points the team would make in the first quarter. Hylton connected on a few of their own in the second quarter to take a half-time lead of 22-18. 

Coming out of the half, each team again couldn't find their shot as the two teams combined for only 10 points in the third quarter. The fourth quarter finally featured some excitement and a little bit of scoring. 

Hylton had a commanding 4-point lead with a 90 seconds to go and Gar-Field showed signs of desperation when their center, Raheem Johnson, decided to shoot a three-pointer. Johnson had only made a couple of them throughout the season and was definitely not his game, yet the shot went in and made it a 1-point Bulldog lead. 

The lead grew to 3 for Hylton with 25 seconds left when Indians senior Curtis Einsmann hit another long-distance shot to tie the game. On the ensuing possession, Hylton's captain Kendall Hargrove drove wildly into the paint in an attempt to gain the lead, however Gar-Field's Lawrence Johnson slid into the way and drew the charge to get the ball back with 13 seconds left. 

With the game tied at 36, the Indians advanced the ball to mid-court when guard Justin Pittman lost control of the ball and every Hylton Bulldog made a mad dash for the ball. Pittman regained possession somehow and passed it to Lawrence Johnson who was wide-open on the wing.

The clock was under 4 seconds when Johnson decided to go for the easy lay-up and the win. As he was going up, Hylton's Josh Sapu came flying out of nowhere and pushed Johnson, forcing him to miss what would have been the game-winning basket.

Just then a whistle blew and the referees called it a flagrant foul. With no time-remaining, Gar-Field would attempt one free throw to win the game. After the crowd barraged the court with boos because of the call, the referee's huddled up and met with the coached and decided it wasn't a flagrant foul, and it wasn't even a foul at all somehow. The game went to overtime. 

The game was decided with 40 seconds to go in overtime when Gar-Field's Raheem Johnson missed 3 straight free throws; if he had hit them all it would have given Gar-Field a commanding 3-point lead.

Hylton's Julian Bolton then connected on an old-fashion three-point play with only 14 seconds left to give Hylton the three-point lead. The Indians Zach Fong decided to jack up and off-balance 3 with no time left, it was blocked and Hylton won 46-43. 

The Bulldogs were led by co-captain Micah Parker who scored 15 points including 2 three-pointers. Michael Hatfield had 8 of his own to go with 5 rebounds. Off the bench, Juan Denmark and Julian Bolton combined for 13 points and 7 rebounds.

Leading the Indians was Curtis Einsmann who finished the game with 13 points, 12 of which came from the 4 three-pointers he hit. Raheem Johnson had an up-and-down game, finishing with 11 points and 9 rebounds. Marcus Knight off the bench had 7 points and 4 rebounds and Lawrence Johnson finished with 6 points and 6 rebounds.

Hylton is now set to take on Potomac in the Cardinal district final. Potomac won the earlier game Tuesday night against Forest Park, 83-71. That game will be held Friday night at Potomac High School. As for Gar-Field, their season is over and 4 of their starters (Curtis Einsmann, Pittman, R. Johnson, and L. Johnson) will graduate in the Spring. Coach Andy Gray will have a difficult task reloading his team for another playoff run next season.