Third time a charm as Alexander Central knocks off Hickory boys

The third time is the charm.

Stung by two last-second losses to Hickory High earlier this season, the Alexander Central boys turned the tables with a 3-point shot at the buzzer to defeat the visiting Red Tornadoes 60-57 on Friday night.

The Cougars (18-2, 8-1) snapped an 11-game losing streak to Hickory and grabbed sole possession of first place in the Northwestern 3A-4A, moving a half-game up on Hickory (18-2, 7-1).

It was only the second regular-season conference loss for Hickory, which fell to 31-2 in the league. The other loss was last season at Watauga.

The winning shot on Friday night came after the Cougars called timeout with 3.8 seconds left in the game.

Nathan Birkedal inbounded the ball to Alek Ayer, then sprinted to the right corner to receive a feed back from Ayer. Birkedal pumped faked in the air and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The shot sent the Cougars’ student section onto the court for a mass celebration.

Hickory had won 14 straight games -- including on last-second 3-pointers twice against the Cougars – to sit in first place.

 “It’s crazy,” said Alexander Central head coach Ed Wills after leaving his euphoric locker room. “I don’t know how to explain it. … To play three games against a really good team, and have it come down to the last possession each time, and for kids to step up in all three cases and hit very difficult shots.

“While it’s nice to finally have it go our way, I couldn’t be happier for our kids… They work so hard and it’s just rewarding to see something like this happen to them.”

The game featured 16 lead changes and eight ties and the stat sheet reflected how close the game was. Alexander Central hit one more two-point shot and one more free throw than Hickory. Each team had 13 turnovers and 23 rebounds and five 3-pointers.

The Cougars took a 5-0 lead after Tyler Crouch hit a layup and Birkedal (16 points) hit a 3-pointer. Hickory then scored eight straight points, led by four early points by Zach Jarrett (15 points). 

The Red Tornadoes led 14-12 after one quarter and appeared poised to take control early in the second quarter.

 Hickory lead 21-16 after Jordan Walls-Davis and C.J.Wardrick converted back-to-back steals into layups. When Jarrett completed a fast break with 2:23 left in the first half, Hickory had its largest lead at 29-23.

But the Cougars stormed back. Birkedal hit three free throws, then Ayer finished a dribble drive through the lane with a dunk to cut the lead to one. Alexander Central took the lead briefly when Crouch finished a fast break with a layup. But Jalen Byrd (12 points) answered Ayers’ earlier dunk with and end-to-end slam to put Hickory up 31-30 at halftime.

The Cougars took their largest lead at 42-37 when Cameron Gant hit a 3-pointer from the right wing. 

Byrd responded with a 3-pointer and Jarrett’s stick-back tied the game.  Jarrett then swished a 3-pointer from the top of the circle to give Hickory a 45-42 lead after three quarters.

The lead changed four times in the fourth quarter.

Hickory led 57-55 with 3:28 on a top-of-the-circle jumper by Jarrett before a dribble and drive layup by Crouch tied it 57-all with 3:02 to play

Hickory missed open shots on its final two possessions. When Gant rebounded a missed shot by Walls-Davis with 33.7 seconds to play, the Cougars ran down the clock to play for the final shot.

“Two good basketball teams,” said Hickory coach Shawn Johnson. “The bottom line is the shot went their way this time.

“We felt like we had a couple of opportunities to do some good things… but congratulations to them.

“They’re a good basketball team.”

 HICKORY 64, ALEXANDER CENTRAL 54

Freshman forward Danashia Witherspoon scored 11 of her 22 points in the fourth quarter to help the Red Tornadoes (19-1, 8-0) beat the pesky Cougars.

Leading 35-31 at halftime, the Red Tornadoes built a 15-point lead late in the third quarter, but Alexander Central (15-5, 7-2) used a 16-1 run to get within 50-47 with 5:38 to play. 

Witherspoon scored on three straight possessions to put Hickory up 56-47 and the Red Tornadoes never looked back.

Hickory’s lead in the Northwestern 3A-4A is now 1 ½ games with four to go.

Aja Hoyle scored 16 points and Yasman Hannah added 14 for Hickory.

Kelsie Rhyne and Marie Ritchie each had 13 for the Cougars.