Griffey/Harrellson article

[VTIME]

http://prepsports.stltoday.com/ssi/prep/st...74?OpenDocument

BOYS BASKETBALL: ST. CHARLES 69, LAFAYETTE 64

Pirates win in double OT

By Bill Hester

SUBURBAN JOURNALS

01/27/2007

St. Charles senior Josh Harrellson scored a game-high 24 points as the Pirates beat Lafayatte 69-64 Saturday in double overtime of the Jason Struble Basketball Shootout.

(Roy Sykes/Suburban Journals)

Lafayette basketball player Tyler Griffey experienced about every emotion an athlete could in a very short period of time Saturday night.

The talented 6-foot-7 sophomore hit a shot over St. Charles standout Josh Harrellson (6-9) with 15 seconds to play to give the Lancers a one-point lead. But that exuberant feeling would last just 10 seconds as he experienced agony after fouling Harrellson with less than five seconds in the game.

Harrellson would make one of two free throws to send the game into overtime.

Griffey fouled out after fouling Harrellson and he watched his team fall 69-64 to the Pirates in double overtime in a thriller at the Jason Struble Basketball Shootout at Lafayette.

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Harrellson, who will be attending Western Illinois University in the fall, questioned the call enabling St. Charles to send the game to overtime.

"I got nicked but I would not have called a foul," Harrellson said. "This is high school basketball, not fifth-grade basketball."

Harrellson accepted the "gift" free throws although he would have liked to have won the game in regulation with the two free throws.

"We played a tough game (Friday) night (a win over Duchesne)," Harrellson said. "I didn't expect to play two overtimes tonight. I am tired."

Harrellson finished with a game-high 24 points but several seldom-used Pirates were instrumental in the overtime periods.

"Ronnie (Ocello) played great defense, Eric (Henningsen) hit a couple of big free throws and Chris (Freise) had some big plays," St. Charles coach Gary Wacker said. "Those guys had not been playing much but their contributions were big."

Freise made a big field goal in the second overtime. He also grabbed a couple of crucial rebounds and even made a free throw, be it a lucky bank shot.

"I’m a team player and it just feels good to help the team win a big game," said Freise, a 6-4 senior. "It was a very exciting game and I was where I wanted to be at the end."

And that was on the floor after starters Mark Halsell and Dean Dillen had fouled out.

Lafayette, which had lost to St. Charles two weeks earlier in the championship game of a tournament at Washington, built a 10-point first half lead after Griffey hit a 3-pointer to three minutes to go in the half.

But the Pirates scored a couple of late baskets, one coming at the buzzer on a shot by Halsell after Lafayette was called for a three-second violation.

"We felt very fortunate to just be down by six points at half," said Wacker who played the entire second quarter with Harrellson on the bench with two fouls.

St. Charles began the second half in possession of the ball and Harrellson scored. That set up an exciting second half, which went back and forth with big plays by both teams.

Lafayette almost won the game in regulation as Kyle Meyer just missed a 3-pointer after being set up after a timeout with 1.5 seconds left.

"I can’t say enough about the effort Kyle gave tonight," Lafayette coach Dave Porter said. "He was a true warrior out there. The kids executed what I asked at the end and Kyle had a great look. Some nights those shots go in. Tonight it didn’t."

The game may well not have come down to the end if Lafayette had made free throws down the stretch. The Lancers missed all four tries from the line in the fourth quarter. They missed their only free throw of the first overtime and their first try of the second overtime.

"Nobody guards you when you are shooting free throws," Porter said. "We had the tough call at the end but we also had the missed free throws and missed opportunities. I was really pleased with effort tonight. It was a great high school basketball game played for a great cause."

Harrellson scored 24 points and Rudy Harper added 17 for the Pirates who improved to 16-5.

"I am very pleased with the way we played this month," Wacker said. "We played 10 games in January against 10 quality opponents."

St. Charles won eight of those, losing only to Vashon and Hazelwood Central.

Griffey had 23 points to pace the Lancers (13-6).

[brianstl]

Is this supposed to make Harrelson look like he should be as an equal or better recruit than Griffey? It doesn’t. Griffey is far superior.

Harrelson should not be brought up on this board anymore. He is not an option. He is not a player that would help the Billikens. At the time he signed with Western, the Billikens had three freshmen that played the same position. No team needs a total of 4 freshman and sophomore power forwards. That is not how you build a team.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you are going to try to dog Griffey or at least attempt make Harrelson seem comparable, you being the same person who posted "just what the Billikens need, another white guy" last year.

[VTIME]

Not trying to dog Griffey. I'm a big fan of Ty. Secondly, Ty and Josh are different players, I project Ty as a 3/4 guy in college while Josh is a pure center. Ty is the better player. Josh held his own though. Josh has held his own all year. Who do you want him to play? Please, please, please show me where I said that insane comment you posted. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!! I would've been banned for something like that. Get real. What's the point in lying.

[billiken_roy]

v, should i add griffey to the list?

[Eddie_Gaedel]

V... in all honesty, thanks for the post. I appreciate it.