Basketball Roundup: The Buzzer Beating Shot

Basketball+Roundup%3A+The+Buzzer+Beating+Shot

Kieran McAllister, Editor

On January 16, 2018, the Hawthorne High School Girls basketball team competed against one of their biggest rivals in their conference, the Pompton Lakes Cardinals. The entire 32 minutes of the game were nail-biting, as the score went back and forth. In the final seconds of the game, the Lady Bears were down by one point and had no time to spare. With nine seconds left on the clock, junior point guard Sofia Difilippo sunk a 3 point shot to win the game for the Lady Bears.

This was an essential game for the Lady Bears to win because the next day was the county seeding meeting which would determine who they would be playing in the tournament. The team had only won one league game prior to the defeat against the Cardinals and had a standing record of 4-1. With that in mind, junior guard Heather Bertollo sprinted down the court and made the crisp pass to Difilippo to win the game. The girls proved that they can be contenders in their league and the next day they earned the seeding of #12 in the county.

The shot was legendary to everyone on and off the court. Senior, Alexandra O’Neill, reflected on the win as “the spark this team needed to get us going.” The Lady Bears went on to win the first round of counties and are advancing into the second. “I think that winning that game was my favorite moment of this year so far. It reminds me of the Glen Rock game last year where we won with a buzzer beater as well. It seems like the team has pretty good buzzer beaters,” Heather Bertollo said laughing. Sofia Difillippo says, “It was a surreal feeling to hit that shot. I couldn’t have done it without my team.”

The defeat against the Cardinals was a turning point in the Lady Bears season and they continue to keep moving forward and thinking about the future of their season with States right around the corner. The team will be playing in the second round of counties on Saturday, February 3rd, at 11 am at West Milford High School.

 

This is the link to the video of the shot that shocked everyone in the gym to win the game.

http://www.hudl.com/v/28tF9h