Welch’s clutch three not enough as men’s basketball falls in overtime
By Claire Alongi,
BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–
With one second left on the clock, Davis High senior Ryan Kriedler threw up a desperate shot from half court. The ball soared across the gym as the crowd watched. Then the buzzer sounded, the ball bounced off the rim and the game ended with the men’s basketball team (8-17, 1-11) out of luck.
It was a long night for the Blue Devils. After senior Glen Welch’s three-pointer with two seconds left tied the game and gave DHS four more minutes to eke out a win, the Devils were outscored in overtime 11-5, leading to an 80-74 defeat to the Pleasant Grove Eagles (12-13, 4-8) on Wednesday, Feb. 10.
The team got out to a hot 5-0 start, but the Eagles ended the first quarter up one and the half up five.
But the Devils weren’t about to be outmatched. Led by strong shooting from Welch (23 points), Kreidler (12) and junior Ben Bergevin (15), DHS outscored Pleasant Grove 20-14 in the third quarter to take a 47-46 lead.
The fourth quarter was the ultimate game of cat and mouse: Kriedler extended the Devils’ advantage, but the Eagles stayed close behind. Midway through the period, Pleasant Grove sunk some free throws and took the lead. Welch, Kreidler, Bergevin and senior point guard Kevin Austin (nine points) led the chase.
And then, with all hope seemingly lost, there was Welch’s three-pointer that tied the game at 69, sending the crowd into a raucous roar and shooting the game into overtime.
In the extra period, the Eagles immediately took the lead, racking up six points before Bergevin brought DHS on the board with a bucket and two free throws–not enough for the struggling Devils.
“It was our first overtime game of the year so I can’t say we had too much experience there,” Kriedler noted. “Towards the end of the game we just kind of made some uncharacteristic mistakes. But we wouldn’t have made it [into overtime] without Glen’s shot and a couple great defensive plays along the stretch.”
Though disappointed by the loss, head coach Dan Gonzalez felt the Blue Devils gave it their all.
“When you lose like this, that’s when it makes it really tough,” he said. “I thought the guys played their hearts out. The effort was there; we just didn’t have some shots go down for us.”
