END OF A DREAM
OAK GROVE – At around 7:15 p.m. March 3 at Oak Grove High School, Richmond’s dream of winning a fourth straight district boys basketball title died.
A buzzer-beating bucket helped kill it. With Richmond leading Odessa 49-48 in the Class 4 District 15 title game, Odessa senior guard Jackson Murry heaved up a three-point shot that swished through the net as time expired for the last of his 21 points. Odessa fans erupted. Murry’s teammates mobbed him.
“(I) saw the basket, shot it,” he said. “Knew it was in as soon as I shot it.”
Because the Spartans (21-6) were seeking “a huge accomplishment” in pursuing their fourth straight district crown, Richmond coach Kevin Jermain expected the 51-48 nail-biter to sting for a while.
“Losing on the buzzer like that, … it’s a tough feeling that, probably, just that moment in time is a thing that players and coaches, they never get out of their mind,” Jermain said.
During the first quarter, Richmond threatened to make it a runaway, not a nail…