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Chris Evans
Posted Jan 31, 2009
Donte' Foster was a world wide sensation all week long, but Thursday night he was a local sensation by draining two, game deciding free throws to give the Jays a 52-51 win El Reno to avoid the upset. The game was rescheduled after being postponed, on Tuesday, due to inclement weather.
The upsetting minded, sixth ranked Indians got a big 3-point shot by Chris Mustain with :08 left to give the Indians a 51-50 go ahead lead. Out of the time-out, El Reno picked up a full court press and fouled Foster 45 feet away from the basket.
Foster sunk both free throws to give Guthrie the lead back with :06. El Reno had one more opportunity to upset the top ranked Jays, but senior guard Clayton Smith took an obvious charge, from Mustain, in the paint from the driving Indian with :01 left. There were a total of seven lead changes in the second half alone.
“I watched it again on film and it looked like there were three or four plays late in the game and none of the calls went our way,” El Reno head coach Rodney Haydon said to the El Reno Tribune. “In a game like this, someone is going to get the breaks and that team is usually the one that wins. We played them (Guthrie) toe to toe and we played very well - it just was not meant to be.”
El Reno (12-6) jumped out to a 10-0 run to begin the game and the Jays, for the second time this season, found themselves down 10-0 to start a game. The Jays did not score until the 4:02 mark with a Devon Hall bucket and finished the quarter with an 8-2 run to pull within four, 12-8 at the end of the first quarter. El Reno held a 24-19 halftime lead.
Foster, who started the game with his 21 jersey, but had to change to jersey 23 in the second quarter, hit a 3-pointer at the 1:39 mark of the third quarter to give the Jays their first lead of the night, 34-33. Keaton Callins would then hit two free throws to go up 36-33, but Fayzon Richey nailed a jumped shot, at the buzzer, to close out the third quarter with the Jays up, 36-35.
Guthrie, who allowed the second most points this season, improves to 15-1 overall and 7-0 in the North of the Suburban Conference. El Reno, on the next night, lost to Deer Creek, 44-42, to drop their second game in the North (4-2) and falls to 12-6 for the year.
Foster finished with a game high 19 points while Kentrell Brothers was the other Jay to score in double figures with 10. Meanwhile, El Reno shot nearly 49% and made five of 11 three point shots.
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