Aggies claim win in back-and-forth contest

With the end of the season in view, the boys basketball teams at Arbor View and Legacy seem headed in opposite directions.
Arbor View boys basketball coach Kyle Hageness knows his team is moving up the standings after Friday’s 71-68 home win over the Longhorns.

The Aggies, who finished 3-11 in league play last season, improved to 6-5 in the Northwest League (13-9 overall) with their second straight win. In contrast, Legacy (11-8, 6-5) lost its second-consecutive league game.

“It feels great to be able to control our own destiny and earn a potential end-of-season tie-breaker,” Hageness said. “We are excited to fight for the chance to make the playoffs for the first time in school history. And Legacy is a great team who got us by a point at their place earlier in the year, and we feel very fortunate to come out with a win.”

The game had the feel of a professional pingpong match, with 15 lead changes and 12 ties.

Arbor View led 35-31 at the half, but the Longhorns used a 2-3 zone and a trapping fullcourt press to take a 51-49 lead into the final period.

Legacy held the lead until 3:03 left when Arbor View’s De-Andrea Johnson hit a layup to put the Aggies on top for good at 61-59.

Arbor View switched from man-to-man to a 2-3 zone for the final 2:50, and it was successful, immediately forcing a long 3-point miss from the Longhorns’ Ira Haywood. Maiscei Grier snatched the rebound for the Aggies and nailed a coast-to-coast, driving layup to stretch the lead to 63-59.

“As far as the zone switch, we figured we needed to try something different as we were getting beat to the hole consistently,” Hageness said. “We tried it, it seemed to work, and we were able to get rebounds when they missed jumpers.”

Arbor View shot 20-for-22 from the free throw line.

“Facing their strong guard play and losing by just one last time, I knew I needed to excel late in the fourth quarter in order to earn the 'W’,” said Grier, who had 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Haywood, who scored 10 of his 26 in the fourth quarter, sank a 3-pointer from the right wing with 10 seconds left to get close at 69-65.

Sian Laine added 19 points for the Longhorns, including a 3-pointer from near midcourt to beat the first-quarter buzzer.

Darington Banks had 14 points and eight rebounds, and Anthony Trepagnier scored 10 for Arbor View.