Lindblom advances on late layup

Updated: March 23, 2011 3:50PM

If spectators didn't believe what they saw Wednesday when Lindblom defeated Harper in the King 3A sectional semifinals, they got a chance to see the instant replay as Lindblom defeated Hope, another Red-Central team Friday to capture the King sectional.

Jerrvon Ewing grabbed an offensive rebound and scored his only basket of the night with 11 seconds remaining to give Lindblom a 59-57 victory over Hope. Hope missed a three-pointer from the corner as time expired.

The Golden Eagles (22-8) held a 54-42 lead with 4:10 remaining in the fourth quarter but Hope staged a furious rally with a 15-3 run and tied it up with 31 seconds remaining on a basket by Avery Busch (14 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks) before setting up Ewing's heroics.

"I'm really proud of these kids and the way they hung in there," said coach Zack Linderman. "After losing two starters to foul trouble the game almost got away from us. But we held on."

Justin Johnson and DeShante Dunning shared scoring honors with 14 points a piece. Dunning also pulled down a game high 11 rebounds. Lorenzo Chavez had 13 and Ervin Stanford added 10 points.

Ewing said it was just a hustle play that got him the ball. "When the ball was going up I just anticipated it was going to be a miss and I put myself in position to get the rebound. The victory is very special for me knowing that my only two points in the game were the two points that got us the victory."

Hope coach Gary Tate said his team did not come ready to play. "We played in spurts and with no intensity. It seems like everybody was waiting for everybody else to make a play. They dictated tempo the entire game and we never got going."

Anthony Carter scored 14 points a piece for the Flying Eagles (22-12). Shayaa Jeffrey finished with 10 points.

Johnson said his team is proud of what they accomplished. "Everybody looks down on us because we are in the Blue Division. But I feel we can play with anybody and we play as hard as any team. We will come hard and ready to play in our next game as well."

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