Hylton did everything right as the last seconds ticked away. It forced the ball out of the hands of KIMA’s top shooter and blanketed the player who took the desperation shot at the buzzer.
So when that 3-point attemptby KIMA senior guard Lionel Coleman sank through the net and sent the game to overtime it was effectively a knockout blow to the deflated Bulldogs.
KIMA scored the first six points in overtime against Hylton and held on for a 74-69 victory at Lake Braddock in a consolation semifinal at the Hubert Davis Tournament of Champions.
“The little things have hurt us,” said Hylton junior forward Derek Braxton, who was guarding Coleman closely on the final play of regulation. “We’ve been competitive and we pull together when we get down. But that consistency isn’t always there.”
Braxton was playing his first game of the season after suffering a fractured foot in early September while playing for Hylton’s football team. The Bulldogs (4-4) were also without 6-4 starting center D.J. Lane, who was away on a family trip, and further shorthanded when senior 6-5 center Will Alvarez sprained an ankle in the second half. Those losses hurt against a KIMA team with five players 6-5 or taller. Hylton, which has now lost three games by five points or less, faces Stafford today in the seventh-place consolation game at 2:15.
