Buzzer beater gives Greyhounds season-opening victory

By Harry Toufar Almond-Bancroft (AB) has been a thorn in Loyal’s side for the last two seasons. A state qualifier last year, AB finished the year with a 27-3 record. That record included a 72-32 thrashing of Loyal in the season opener last year. At least four players returned from that team, including 6-foot-7 senior, Ayden Phillips. The Greyhounds would need to bring their A game to do battle this year. From the start, it seemed that was exactly what they did.

The first two minutes of the Nov. 26 home game saw both teams showing some early season jitters. Finally, Loyal’s Reed Stieglitz hit from long range. AB made it 3-2 on a Phillips basket. Bryce Deegan netted the next 8 points for Loyal, with two 3-pointers and a 2 pointer. AB countered with 5 points of their own, closing the gap to 11-7. The Greyhounds then went on a 10-0 run: Carson Prein, coming off the bench, hit a 3-pointer; Stieglitz made a 2-pointer; and Deegan scored twice, including a three from long range. Loyal was up 21-7.

AB made some adjustments, holding Loyal scoreless while they ran off 8 unanswered points to close in on the Hounds, 21-15. Deegan stopped the drought with two 3s sandwiched around a putback by Cain Toufar, running the score to 28-15. Stieglitz scored 2 and AB netted 4 points to bring the halftime score to 30-19. Phillips was getting frustrated as Toufar and the rest of the Hounds held him to only 7 first half points.

The second half saw more competitive play from both teams, starting with each team scoring a basket. Then the Hounds went cold as AB, led by Phillips, ran off 12 unanswered points, giving them their first lead with 9:30 left on the clock. Hunter Walter put Loyal up by 1, only to see AB bounce back to take a 3-point lead. Stieglitz hit a three, knotting the score at 37-37 with three minutes left. Again, AB countered, going up by 2. Deegan, scoreless in the half up to that point, made one of two from the charity stripe with 36 seconds left on the clock. That put the score at 39-38 with AB ahead. Tensions mounted as AB was unable to increase their lead over the next few seconds.

It all came down to a game-changing play with 2.1 seconds remaining on the clock. Stieglitz was ready to inbound the ball from the side. With the five-second count winding down, he lobbed a high pass to Deegan in the corner. Deegan’s defender challenged him for the ball, taking himself out of defensive position. This allowed Deegan to get the shot off, hitting nothing but net as the buzzer sounded. The crowd and Loyal bench exploded in a frenzy as Loyal took the 40-39 win for a satisfying start to the season.

Deegan led the Hounds in scoring with 18 points, including three 3-pointers. Stieglitz also reached double figures with 10. Carson Prein scored 3 coming off the bench. Carson Bremmer (3), Toufar (2) and Walter (4) rounded out the scoring.

After the game, Loyal coach Brandon DeSmet was quick to praise his squad.

“They worked really hard and stayed together,” he said. “We played tough defense, especially against number 15 in the first half. Almond-Bancroft is a good team with a number of players returning from their state-qualifying squad from last year.”

The Hounds will not see Almond-Bancroft again this year, but will face another non-conference opponent, Edgar, on Friday night in an away game.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO