ROCKINGHAM — After overcoming a sizable margin for a runaway victory in its season-opener last week, the Temple Christian School varsity boys basketball didn’t have the same fate at home on Friday, dropping a close contest to Shining Light, 59-56.
First-year Temple Christian (1-1) coach David Laton was direct about how his group’s subpar effort at the free-throw line influenced the outcome.
“That was the difference in the game,” said Laton afterward. “To be honest, we made our free throws at the end, but if we made them early, it wouldn’t have been close.”
The Tigers went 10 of 23 from the charity stripe and the early misses fueled fast breaks for Shining Light.
In the opening stages of the second quarter, Tigers guard Manasseh Collins finished at the rim through contact, but missed the and-1 opportunity, keeping the team’s lead at one possession, 23-20.
The Sharks answered with an 8-0 run, forcing Laton to call a timeout with his group down 28-23.
Laton credited the Sharks’ 3-point shooting and capitalizing off turnovers as the key reasons they jumped out to leads.
But it was the Tigers who clawed back with runs of their own to keep the contest close. Malik Green put in two of his team-high 22 points near the end of the first half to cut the deficit to three, 34-31.
In the second half, Tigers guard Hayden Heavner (21 points) came up with key offensive possessions as the game got tighter.
With two minutes left in the third, Heavner connected on back-to-back layups to cut an eight-point deficit in half as the Tigers trailed 45-41.
Heavner chopped down another Sharks lead in the latter stages of the fourth quarter, grabbing a missed free throw and putting it back in to get within three points, 52-49 with 2:05 left.
But Sharks guard John Cruse immediately responded with three of his game-high 33 points, converting an and-1 to stretch the lead, 55-49.
Still, the Tigers rallied back for one last push. But after forcing a turnover and regaining possession with just a few ticks left, a game-tying 3-point attempt fell short and ended the contest.
Temple Christian returns to action on Tuesday when they open conference play at home against Liberty Christian Academy.