Pinhook Flats: Hyped Up For District Basketball In Omaha Nebraska
The second round of Class B Districts took its course Monday night at Westside High School. Ralston was coming into the game off of a dramatic OT win the night before against Plattetview.
The game was nothing short of the hype behind a classic Gross vs Ralston match up. Emotions were high and tempers were flaring. A half time score of 36-26, in favor of Gross, was just the beginning of an epic finish.
With 2 minutes left in the game, Ralston cuts the lead to just 2 points (65-63). The game went back and forth, up and down and all around for those last 2 minutes. Ralston hits consecutive 3’s to only trail Gross 71-69. Ralston needs to foul in order to stop the clock, and they do. Gross hits 1 of their 2 free throws pushing the score to 72-69. With 16 seconds, Ralstons’ inbound pass was stolen by Gross, and fumbled all around until finally resting in Gross’ possession. A quick foul by Ralston puts Gross at the foul line again. Needing at least 1 of these 2 free throws, Gross misses the first. All the air is sucked out of the gym, thoughts of a typical Gross meltdown to their bully rival was becoming a reality. Missing this next free throw will give Ralston a chance to send this game into overtime. With only 8 seconds left on the clock, the ref tosses the ball to the free throw line, the shot goes up…. swoosh! Crowd goes crazy, Ralston inbounds the basketball and make or miss the game is over. Gross wins an old fashion brawl 73-69.
So many years of district losses, season ending defeats by Ralston, was no longer the issue. Gross played tougher than any team seen this year, and Ralston played tough right along side them. Moving forward, Gross played Gretna last night @ 7:00 PM (2/28) for the Class B District Championship.
Good Luck Gross High Cougars!