This One Hurt

I have never gone from that high, to that low, that quickly. Ever.

My senior basketball season at Menwith Hill High School, a tiny division 4 school in Harrogate, England, began against a division 1 school's JV squad. They might have been a bigger school, but we were a varsity squad and we were confident we could win.

But it came down to the wire. We were tied heading into the final possession, and they held the ball. Their guy dribbled around the perimeter, looking for a gap. He couldn't find one. My teammate was quick and kept him from finding a lane to the basket. Time was expiring and it came down to a deep, desperate three point attempt. It went in.

I played in that game. It still wasn't as devastating as what happened last night.

Going into the final minute, BYU and Saint Mary's College were tied. With 34.6 seconds left, tie game, and shot clock off, BYU had possession of the ball. Carlino dribbled the clock down to 10 and the play went into motion. The pass, of course, went to Tyler Haws on the wing. He took his man in, put up a difficult shot, and with two and a half seconds left, it found nylon. The Marriott Center went ballistic. We went crazy. We had won the game in the final seconds and Tyler Haws' star status was becoming more and more clear! Saint Mary's couldn't possibly make a half court shot to win... Wait.

This was not the scene Provo wanted to see last night.

I was crushed. I dropped to my seat and sat in stunned silence. They could review it all they wanted, but it wasn't even close. Matthew Dellavedova got the inbounded pass around half court, took a couple of dribbles, and heaved a 35 foot running desperation shot. Anson Winder, in the neighborhood, made the right decision to back off enough that he wouldn't have a chance at being called for a foul. I would take that shot every time. And my team would win nearly every single one. But not last night. Not against Saint Mary's. That desperate heave went straight through the bottom of the net.

That shot undermined some huge shots by Brock Zylstra. He should be feeling incredibly confident about his game right now, ready for more. Instead, he's likely reeling. It will be interesting to see how he plays going forward. That shot undermined some excellent play from Anson Winder and some nice shots from Nate Austin, who is finally looking confident. That shot negated an incredible effort from BYU's budding star, Tyler Haws. That shot wiped out Haws' game winner, what could have been a defining moment for his season, and for this team's season.

And it remains to be seen, but that shot may end up blocking BYU from the NCAA tournament and sending the Cougars to the NIT.

It will now be a long, uphill battle for BYU to make it to the Big Dance. I said before conference play began that BYU would likely need to go 2-2 in their four games against Gonzaga and Saint Mary's. Now one of those wins will have to take place at SMC or at Gonzaga, and that feels like a stretch.

The game wasn't lost on that shot, however. I kept screaming not to leave Stephen Holt open, because he burned us last year. He hit a shot. Then another. And another. I yelled that we couldn't give him any breathing room, but he kept finding enough space to hit the open look. Dellavedova, cold all night, came up clutch in the last few minutes leading up to that crippling, heart breaking shot.

Coach Rose walks off the court after the loss to SMC.

It wasn't all Saint Mary's good play though. A lot of it was Cougar mistakes. Carlino started hot and Haws started cold. Randy Bennett switched up his defense and pressured Carlino. That turned out to be a wise decision. Carlino kept trying to do too much. He didn't step back and find the open man. He ended up committing six turnovers, more than doubling his previous total from league play thus far. He forced up shots that weren't there. And it cost the Cougars.

Brandon Davies played through foul trouble and ended up fouling out. Were he on the floor in the final minute, would it have been a different outcome? I would guess so, but his play throughout the game was detrimental. He played a little like Carlino. Started well, then got overconfident and started forcing things. He was like a vacuum at times. He sucked the ball into the post and then failed to kick it back out when nothing was there, forcing up bad shot after bad shot.

Then there were the neutral players, the guys who didn't necessarily harm the team's play, but they didn't necessarily add to it either. Josh Sharp hit the first shot of the game, a three pointer, but he practically disappeared after that. Craig Cusick chipped in three assists, but not much else. Agustin Ambrosino played one minute and had one shot blocked.

Haws, Austin, and Winder, as well as Zylstra, deserved to
 be all smiles after their performances.

And there was some good. Tyler Haws warmed up and the game was his. He deserved that game winner, but he didn't get it. Nate Austin played perhaps his best game of the year. Anson Winder hit his first three pointer of the year and chipped in several hustle plays. Brock Zylstra hit both shots he took, and they were probably the two biggest shots he's taken in his career.

But it wasn't enough. Against the good teams, BYU needs a full team to show up. BYU needs to keep their composure when the pressure comes. They can do it, but they're clearly not quite there yet against the top conference competition.

My little high school team developed into a great squad after that buzzer-beater loss. We shocked everyone, won our conference, and stormed into the European Championship finals. That one regular season game was a turning point for us, and perhaps this game against Saint Mary's College can be a turning point for the Cougars as well.

If the Cougars can use this as a learning experience and a building block and take confidence away from it, they can still make the NCAAs. Admittedly it is a long shot, but so was Dellavedova's.