DALLAS - To quote the voice of the Friars Rusty Hornsby, "The Legacy Gym still has some magic left in her," as the Friars won an overtime nail-biter last night 48-47 over Trinity Christian Academy. Cole Milkereit picked a great time to get his first points of the game when he hit a left-wing three-pointer with under two seconds left to give the Friars the one-point advantage and eventual victory.

Though the ending of the game was spectacular for BL, the beginning could not have been more of a 180. The Trojans came out of the gate on fire, hitting their first four shots - all three's - and looking like they were going to run the Friars out of the gym.

The Friars took an early timeout and the coaches settled the team down and had them refocus. After a few buckets in the paint by Devin Miller and Hayden Bauer, the black and white were only down 14-8 after the fast TCA start. That would be the score after the first quarter and the confidence level of the players and fans was high.

TCA did not back down though, they played their best quarter of the game in the second quarter, extending their lead to double-digits. The Friars continued to hang around and were only down 25-17 at the half with a big part of Bauer's six first-half points. Despite not playing their best and tailing, the Friars felt good about only being down eight after taking what they thought was TCA's best punch in the first half.

That good feeling came to fruition at the beginning of the second half. Behind great shooting and defense, the men opened up the third quarter on an 11-0 scoring run that gave them a 28-25 lead. Aiden Schnurr hit two three's and Baker Trent had a steal and layup to lead the Friars to their first lead of the game.

Many teams would falter under the pressure of a home team coming back with their opposing fans deafening the gym, but the Trojans are a solid team that is well-coached and they did not back down from the challenge. After the 11-0 scoring run, they quickly went on a 5-0 run to take back the lead at 32-28.

After those two scoring runs at the beginning of the third quarter, the game went back and forth for the rest of regulation.

The Friars had a 33-32 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but the Trojans quickly took it back in the fourth at 36-33. Neither team scored for multiple minutes until Corey Webster had a steal and layup with 5:00 to go to make it 36-35. Webster and Miller both played great on defense all night, holding TCA's best scorer to only 20 points on 17 shots.

The Trojans would extend their lead back to three points with under three minutes to go but only for a few moments because Schnurr hit a three to tie it at 38 with 1:58 left. Schnurr has been playing very well since the start of district play and is shooting 13-26 from three in the four district games.

A minute later, Schnurr would give the Friars a 40-38 advantage after Bauer found him cutting to the basket. But the back-and-forth action continued as TCA tied it up at 40 with under a minute left. Much like last Friday night, the Friars had another opportunity to win the game at the buzzer in regulation. After a great play, Schnurr's buzzer-beater didn't go in but that just meant everyone got an extra four minutes of spectacular basketball.

Overtime did not disappoint as the lead changed four times in the final two minutes. TCA hit a three and later went 1-2 from the line to take a 44-42 lead with 44 seconds left. Mr. Reliable Aiden Schnurr followed that up with a corner three - right in front of Friar Nation - his fourth three of the second half to give BL the 45-44 lead with 31.2 seconds left. TCA called a timeout and the Legacy Gym was rocking. Everyone thought that was going to be the game-winner and the Friars were going to walk out of the gym with the victory. The end.

Spoiler alert, that didn't happen.

The Trojans drew up a great play that resulted in an open three, which they hit to take a 47-45 lead with just 22 seconds left to play. After the joyous feeling Friar Nation had just moments before, the team and crowd were now faced with a big challenge.

Do you go for the tie or go for the win? I can't tell you what the play call was in the huddle during the Friar timeout, but what I can tell you is Cole Milkereit did not want to go to a second overtime. The senior set himself up on the left wing and Bauer found him for a contested three that hit nothing but net, giving the Friars the 48-47 lead. TCA heaved a full-court shot but by the time the ball hit the court the entire student section was dogpiling on center court.

This victory was not only very exciting but big for district standings. The Friars now sit in third place at 2-2 with TCA at 1-2 and John Paul II at 3-1. It will be a fight for second place as Prestonwood is sitting at 5-0 and looking strong.

Next Up:
The Friars travel to North Dallas to take on Parish Episcopal on Friday, January 13th at 7:30. The Panthers are 0-3 in district play with a 17-11 overall record, and will be a tough test for the Friars.

Sub-Varsity:
The junior varsity continues their hot streak with a 61-33 win over TCA. They have now won 10 games in a row and are 16-4, 4-0 on the season.

The freshman team had a big win last night, defeating TCA 57-47. They are now 8-11, 3-2 on the season but are 6-3 in their last nine games. Read Full Article