Photos by Peg Fredi for BHP

Montague's last-second shot ends valiant Raptors comeback 

By ANDREW SKWARA
For Brentwood Home Page
Rivalry games don't get any better than this. At least not in Williamson County.

Ravenwood (13-5, 2-3 District 11-AAA) steadily chipped away at a 14-point deficit in the second half, managing to tie the game in the final minute before Montague saved Brentwood (19-4, 5-0) with his game-winning shot. The victory extended the Bruins' win streak to 12 straight.

With the score tied 45-45, BHS senior point guard Jack Montague gets ready to drive . . .

. . . and banks in a floater for the winning shot against RHS, 47-45.

“To their credit they just ramped up the defense, pressured us and made key steals,” longtime BHS Coach Dennis King said. “They were more physical than us. I'm just glad Jack is on our team . . .  We put the ball in the hands of the kid we thought could do it and he got the job done.”

The Raptors' Devin Robinson, who poured in a game-high 24 points, tied the game at 45 on a tough bank shot of his own with 21 seconds left. Brentwood then called two timeouts to set up the final play.

Montague took an inbounds pass near midcourt and with Robinson defending drove inside to his left and released a floater over Robinson's outstretched hand. The ball hit the glass, the front of the rim and then fell through the basket.

 “We didn't know if they were going to go man (to man) or zone so we called a play for both,” Montague said. “When we saw it was man, Coach (King) called an isolation play to put the ball in my hands. I shot a floater that I thought was going out, but luckily got the roll.”

Immediately after the ball fell through the net, the clock was stopped briefly by operators at 1.6 seconds as RHS coaches quickly began screaming for a timeout as the Raptor players were frantically trying to inbound the ball. No timeout was given and the officials ruled that time had expired, sending Brentwood fans rushing the court as Ravenwood players and coaches looked on disbelief.

“It's usually protocol for the officials to look over at the bench in that situation, but it's a very difficult call to make,” Raptors Coach Patrick Whitlock said. “It would have been tough to get a good shot off, but that's the way it goes.”

Nonetheless, Whitlock was particularly pleased with his team's double-digit comeback. Brentwood threatened to pull away for good when Cody Shelton's layup gave the Bruins their largest lead of the night at 41-27. But Ravenwood scored the final two baskets of the third quarter – a Robinson layup and a Andy Moore 3-pointer – which ignited a 16-3 run that cut the Bruins' lead to 44-43 with 4:54 left.

Ravenwood then had three shots that could taken the lead, but missed each.

 “I am very proud of the effort we made late in the third and the fourth quarter,” Whitlock said. “The kids showed a lot of heart. We gave ourselves a lot of chances to win it. It's just a very disappointing result.”

Robinson sparked the comeback, scoring 10 of his points and dishing two assists over the game's final nine minutes. He made a series of tough floaters and leaners and converted a pair of 3-point plays throughout the game.

“Devin really held his emotions in check and made some big plays,” Whitlock said. “He really laid it all out on the court.”

Both coaches raved about the wild and especially loud atmosphere surrounding the game.

 “It got really noisy in here. I was a college coach for five years, but I wouldn't trade this atmosphere for anything,” Whitlock said.

 “This is kind of like a sibling rivalry between two brothers smacking each other around on the backcourt,” King said. “This year it was two quality teams that have a lot of pride. This is in my top two (Brentwood-Ravenwood games). We've met in the district final and in the district tournament before, but for January this is as good as it gets.”

Brentwood never trailed, jumping out to a 8-0 lead and taking a 28-20 advantage into the half. Asa Duvall led the Bruins with 13 points while Montague finished with 11.

 “I never thought we were going to lose,” said Montague, who has committed to Yale University. “It was getting close, and we were getting stressed out. I just tried to stay calm and just kept telling my teammates we are up. Cody, Asa and Will Jones stepped up big time and Andy (Schumpert) played great defense. It was an all around team effort.”

Brentwood 49, Ravenwood 17, girls

The Lady Bruins (18-2, 5-0) dominated from the start, rolling to a 32-point rout of the Lady Raptors (11-7, 2-3). Brentwood, which has now won five straight, led 29-9 at the half.

“This is a balanced team and when we play together and hit on all cylinders we are a really good team,” BHS Coach Ronnie Seigenthaler said.

Three Lady Bruins finished in double figures with Millie Tunnel leading the way with 13 points. Paige Parker had 12 and Halle Jarnagin chipped in 10. Sara Jarnagin added eight points.

Parker scored 10 of her points in the first quarter.

“I grew up in the state of Alabama; this is Alabama-Auburn,” Seigenthaler said of the rivalry. “Throw out the stats and records. The intensity and energy was there. You got to compliment that with execution and that's what we talked about.”

 Erin Johnson led the Lady Raptors with 11 points, including three 3-pointers. 

 The Raptors and Bruins teams will play again in the regular-season finale, Feb. 10, at Brentwood's gym.