Redondo Union hoops squad defeats Peninsula with a spectacular last second shot by Kyle Carter
Senior Sea Hawk Kyle Carter. Photo
When the Redondo boy’s basketball team came out of a timeout down by 2 points with 14 seconds to play against Peninsula Friday night, Coach Ali Parvez wasn’t messing around. He didn’t want to play for a tie that would lead to an overtime period and five more minutes of intense, anything-can-happen basketball. Instead he drew up a play for senior star Zekiah Lovett to take – and make — a three-pointer to win the game.
It worked, but not exactly the way Parvaz drew it up.
First, Lovett was forced out to around 30 feet from the basket, far beyond the 19-20 foot range where Parvez wanted him to take the shot. But with the game clock quickly ticking towards zero Lovett had no more options left. So he launched a high-arching moon-shot like the kind he routinely drills in practice and warmups.
But this time it hit the back of the rim and bounced high into the air, provoking a collective groan of disappointment from the Sea Hawk side of the gym. It looked like they would lose a game that they had led virtually the entire way. The other side, packed with Peninsula backers who had made the short trip down the hill, let out shrieks of joy and anticipation that the Panthers were finally going to beat their Bay League nemesis and tie the Sea Hawks for the Bay League lead, each with a 3-1 league record.
But with less than a second left Redondo’s senior guard Kyle Carter out-leaped and out-fought several Panthers to come down with the ball at the foul line. With players swarming him from every direction, in one motion Carter squared up to the basket and put up a follow-shot that hit the front of the rim. As the crowd held its collective breath the ball slowly crawled up and over the rim and settled down into the net.
The gym absolutely exploded as the score board showed a 46-46 tie with .2 seconds left and overtime looming. But the drama wasn’t over yet as the crowd belatedly realized that the ref closest to the play had blown his whistle and called a foul. Carter would have a chance at even more glory.
He stepped to the foul line, went through his normal pre-shot ritual, and calmly swished a foul shot to win the game 47-46.
Hawks fans poured out of the stands to join Carter’s teammates, who had already buried him in a dog pile so wild that it looked like it might endanger his life.
Carter, who has been in the Redondo program for four years but didn’t make the varsity until last year and only became a starter this year, was overwhelmed with the realization of what he had just done.
“It’s the biggest basketball play of my life – so far,” Carter said. “I’m just glad that it kept us undefeated in league.”
Indeed, the pulse-pounding white knuckle win catapulted the Hawks to a 4-0 Bay League record, keeping them firmly in front of Peninsula, who dropped to 2-2, and Inglewood, who is 3-1 after losing 78-68 to Redondo last week.
Carter’s miracle put-back and ice-cold foul shot were a fitting end to a pulsating game that started slowly – the Hawks led by only 25-18 at halftime – but finished with a fourth quarter that featured several lead changes and multiple potential heroes before Carter finally claimed the spotlight for himself.
First it was Lovett, who drove the crowd into a frenzy late in the third quarter when he took a break-away pass at mid-court and raced in for an un-contested dunk that nearly tore the backboard down and gave Redondo a 35-32 lead.
Then in the fourth quarter Panthers star Wony’a Singleton, a 5-foot-10 quicksilver guard who scored 37 points in a game last month, took over the game for an extended stretch. First, he nailed a 3-pointer to give the Panthers their first lead of the game at 41-39.
But that was quickly erased by Redondo’s star center, 6-foot-8 Quinn Collins, who stepped out of his low-post comfort zone and nailed a three-pointer from the right wing. Collins added a nifty lefty scoop to re-build the Sea Hawk lead to 44-41.
Singleton answered with a drive to pull the Panthers within 44-43, then pulled up for a nothing-but-net 15-foot jumper that gave Peninsula a 45-44 lead. Finally he hit a foul shot but missed the second shot, leaving the Panthers with a 46-44 lead and setting the stage for Carter’s last-second heroics.
Singleton led all scorers with 18 points, while Collins topped the Hawks with 14 points and Lovett and Carter chipped in with 8 each.
The crowd – and the gym itself – were still buzzing for a good 15 minutes after it was over, an indication of just how thrilling this low-scoring but classic high school basketball game had been.
“It’s one of the most exciting games – and endings – that I’ve ever been a part of,” Parvez said.
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