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Hylton ends Fauquier's brilliant season in regionals, 64-63
Cue the sentimental music.
Something heroic and upbeat. Not “Taps” but maybe “Chariots of Fire.”
The Fauquier Falcons’ brilliant 2008-09 boys basketball season is over, courtesy of a 64-63 loss to Hylton in the Northwest Region quarterfinals last Tuesday in Warrenton.
Fauquier (21-4) committed two costly turnovers on its final two possessions after taking a 63-60 lead with 1:23 left.
“I don’t know, it was a tough game, that’s all,” said Falcon senior scoring star Jerrelle Benimon, who tallied a game-high 27 points, but never got a chance to score on the Falcons' last two possessions.
Hylton’s burly 6-foot-5 forward Keith Mitchell provided the game-winning points on short bank with 15 seconds left.
The game ended after two missed free throws by Mitchell with four seconds left. Unfortunately for FHS, Mitchell missed his second free throw so badly and short that the ball bounced free, got knocked to the sideline and controlled by the Bulldogs as time expired.
After the loose ball got knocked away, the 6-foot-8 Benimon lay on the floor as the clock ticked to zero, powerless to impact an outcome he had impacted all night.
Despite the season-ending defeat, the Cedar Run District regular season and tournament champion Falcons could look back on a remarkable season, and another thrilling game.
Hylton led 52-43 late in the third quarter before a frenzied Falcon comeback fueled by all the usual FHS dependables: Benimon, Joey Geary, Tyler Lamper, Alex Ritter and Josh Simons.
Fauquier scored the last six points of the third quarter on a spinning move by Benimon, a Lamper 3-pointer and a Benimon free throw.
The Falcon surge continued into the fourth as Ritter made a layup, Geary added a basket and Lamper made two free throws as Mitchell picked up his fourth foul with 5:03 left. The Falcons now trailed 56-55.
Two more Benimon baskets gave Fauquier a 59-57 lead, but Mitchell, who finished with 26 points, wouldn’t let his Bulldogs lose.
Mitchell made an old-fashioned three-point play as he was fouled by Benimon, who picked up his fourth foul in the process, giving Hylton a 60-59 lead with 3:06 left.
Geary’s two free throws with 2:04 left restored the lead to the Falcons, and Benimon made two more tosses with 1:23 left for a 63-60 FHS lead.
After Hylton guard Darrel Patterson made two free throws to make it 63-62 with 1:10 left, came the two possessions the Falcons wish they could “do-over.”
Nursing a one-point lead, the Falcons protected the ball for 28 seconds before turning it over in front of the FHS bench on a pass out of bounds. “We were playing for a steal and we got it,” said Hylton coach Barry Smith...See the Wednesday print edition of the Fauquier Times-Democrat for the complete story.
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