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For: September 09, 2010
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Garrison’s Shot Keeps FSHS Undefeated, 64-63
BY CLIFF NICHOLS TIMES WEST VIRGINIAN
FAIRMONT — There was no shortage of players who put Fairmont Senior in position to win against Preston during Wednesday’s battle of unbeatens at the Woody Williams Armory.
In the final seconds, though, as coach David Retton was mapping strategy, one player said he wanted the basketball.
Ty Garrison delivered in dramatic fashion.
The 6-3 senior, seconds after missing the front end on the one-and-one with his team trailing the Class AAA seventh-ranked Knights 63-61, banked in a 3-pointer from way out front with five seconds left to lift the Polar Bears to a 64-63 victory.
“In the huddle, I wanted the shot,” Garrison said. “He asked who wanted it, and I said I wanted it. Teammates got it to me. I was pretty deep, so I put a lot of extra on it. It was on, and I banked it in. I got kind of lucky.”
It capped the No. 12 Polar Bears’ rally from a 57-51 deficit with three minutes to play. Neither team led by more than six points the entire game.
There were nine ties and eight lead changes during the first half and four more ties and two more lead changes the rest of the way.
Garrison had 26 points and Ryan Sevier 18 to lead the 6-0 Polar Bears, who won their North Central Athletic Conference opener. Jonathan Logan battled foul trouble to score eight.
Logan Moore’s lone basket of the game, a 3-pointer from the right wing, pulled FSHS into a 61-61 tie with 33 seconds left.
T.J. Thompson, who led Preston with 22 points and four 3-pointers, put the Knights (6-1, 3-1) up by two with a driving layup with 18 secondsto play before Garrison’s game-winning shot. It came after Preston turned the ball over after rebounding Garrison’s missed free throw.
The Knights put the ball in play with 4.4 seconds to go, but Clint Wagner’s shot from the backcourt was not close and went out of bounds with .5 second left. The Polar Bears inbounded the ball successfully to close it out.
“They started spreading it out and we were able to pretty much shut them down,” Garrison said. “We hit some big shots. We played good ‘D’ down the stretch.”
Colton Goff added 15 points and Shayne Murray chipped in 10 for Preston.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Thompson broke a 47-47 tie early in the fourth quarter to give the Knights an edge they held to the final minute.
“It was a great win, just how our kids battled,” Fairmont Senior coach David Retton said. “We go up six points, and, man, we just start turning that thing over.”
The coach thought if his team defended and rebounded well, took quality shots and made good decisions with the basketball it would be in position to win.
“Two out of three may not be good enough to beat them,” Retton said. “You may have to get three out of three. But you know what? I think the Polar Bears are pretty good too.”
Fairmont Senior visits Elkins Saturday.
WFHS TV NEWS thanks the Times West Virginian for the collaborative partnership since 1999.
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