High school basketball: Heartbreak for Sierra in Division III boys championship game
Sierra High star Logan Kilbert was in disbelief following a 51-49 loss to North in the Central Section Division III championship game.
The Chieftains and North were tied at 47 in the fourth quarter with 3.5 seconds remaining.
Sierra had a play designed to give the ball to Kilbert. The referee blew his whistle to start the play and as Tanner Forrester in-bounded the ball on a tip-ball to Kilbert, the buzzer inadvertent sounded while he made the shot. The referee then waved it off.
The Chieftains ran the play again until it was tipped by North to send the game to overtime.
Sierra, however, still had a chance to win the game in overtime with the game tied at 49.
Kilbert dribbled the ball and it was stolen by Baylin Statler, who made a layup at the buzzer for the win at Selland Arena on Saturday.
“In my opinion, you give the ball to the kid, it’s good,” Kilbert said. “ I don’t know who’s working the scoreboard or whatever, but if you give the ball and I make it, that should count in my opinion.”
On Friday, Kerman and Corcoran also had a controversial finish when a whistle was inadvertent blown with .5 seconds remaining in the Lions’ 61-60 victory.
Sierra coach Ryan Watt said he’ll take the blame for the loss, but wondered why he wasn’t told why the buzzer sounded after the whistle was blown.
“It’s just shocking that I wasn’t told anything,” he said. “I was here yesterday with our guys watching games and then we have a play call of 3.5 seconds and the ball goes in the kid’s hands and it’s going off.”
Kilbert finished the game with 30 points.
Hanford West falls in girls final
Ariel Cain shuns the spotlight off the court, and the Rosamond sophomore center is shy about facing the media.
The 5-foot-8 Cain spoke enough on the Selland Arena basketball court, scoring on a flurry of 3-point shots and driving layups to lead the Roadrunners to a 60-45 victory over Hanford West in the Central Section Division V championship.
“The experience was phenomenal,” said Cain, who also collected 14 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks.Both teams took turns holding the lead until midway through the second quarter when Rosamond began to break through Hanford West’s full-court pressure and Cain began to take charge.
Cain drained a 4-point play, followed by an old-fashioned 3-point play while teammate Abigail Cardoza duplicated a 4-point play to help the Roadrunners take a 36-34 halftime advantage. Cain had 14 points by halftime.
Cardoza, a sophomore, had 12 of her 18 points in the second half as Rosamond improved to 24-7 on the season. Hanford West drops to 13-19.
