Wednesday, March 6, 2002
The victory helped erase the pain felt from losses to Springfield during the regular season.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
SALEM -- On a night ruled by emotion, the South Range High basketball team found a way to play another day.
Consumed by frustration over past failures against their Inter-County League rival, the Raiders finally had an answer for Springfield.
Senior Matt Kirk made a short baseline shot at the buzzer to give South Range a 56-54 victory Tuesday and a berth in Saturday's Division III district championship game at Salem High.
The Raiders (18-4) will face St. Thomas Aquinas at 2 p.m.
Ecstatic: "I've never won a game like that in my entire life," Kirk said of his dramatics. "Having that against our biggest rival my senior year, it couldn't get any better."
South Range coach Harold McCue said, "I've never been so happy in my life to see that ball go right through that net."
The basket that Raider fans will long remember came with two seconds remaining on a play that McCue developed spontaneously in the huddle.
"All of a sudden I'm looking at my clipboard and saying, 'If we get a screen for Kirk, and we throw it up at the rim, he can get it,' " McCue said.
Senior Jim Sanders, who quarterbacked the football team, threw a long, high pass off an inbounds play near midcourt.
"I was thinking about how it was going to work. I'm like, 'Oh man, this is going to be open,' " Sanders said. "I knew it."
The 6-foot-6 Kirk, positioned right of the basket, stretched for the ball over a defender, quickly gathered it in and took a left-handed shot that rattled in as time expired.
"I'm still flabbergasted that it worked," said Kirk, who finished with eight points and nine rebounds.
Overcome with emotion, Kirk ran down the court and attempted a cartwheel before he was mobbed by onrushing students.
"We thought we could play with them this time, if we could just dig down a little deeper in our hearts," McCue said.
The victory helped erase the pain that South Range felt from 58-40 and 76-37 losses to Springfield (19-3) during the regular season.
Relieved: "That had been in the back of our minds in every game we played," Sanders said. "I'll tell you what, that feels great to get that out of our heads."
Senior Jason King, who set the screen for Kirk on the winning play, led South Range with 12 points. Juniors George Rohan and Richie Schuler had 11 each.
"It's a war when we play each other," Springfield coach Jeff Brink said. "But we respect them."
The Tigers were plagued by 38-percent shooting from the field and junior standout Dan Schuler's foul trouble.
"I don't think one game detracts from the things my kids accomplished," said Brink, who admitted that much of his thoughts lately have been with his father, Bob, who is recovering from heart surgery.
South Range stormed back from a 10-point second-quarter deficit to trail just 26-24 at halftime.
"We came in more excited at halftime than we were when we started the game," Kirk said.
The Raiders then took control in the third quarter, which was highlighted by Richie Schuler's nine points, including seven straight at one point. When Kirk scored with 3:40 to play in the quarter, South Range led 39-28.
Springfield senior James Mash wasn't about to let his team fade. He capped his game-high 21 points with 11 in the fourth quarter, including three 3-pointers, to give the Tigers a 51-50 lead with 2:05 remaining.
"Jim Mash was a warrior tonight," Brink said.
Final tie: Consecutive baskets by King and Sanders put South Range ahead 54-51 before Springfield senior Pat Birch (15 points) connected on a long 3-pointer to force another tie with 16 seconds remaining.
Following South Range's second timeout, Kirk ended all doubt.
"We knew we had good athletes, we knew we could beat them," Sanders said. "We came in here and did it."
richesson@vindy.com