BArT Comes Back for Big Win at the Armory
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- Down 12 points with a minute left in the third quarter, things were looking bleak for the BArT Charter basketball team on Tuesday evening.
Not as bleak as it used to when BArT took on Hardwick's Eagle Hill School. But not good by any stretch.
But then the Wolfpack rallied.
A 16-4 run spanning the third and fourth quarters tied it. An William Peets knocked down a free throw with 10 seconds left to put BArT on top for good in an 60-57 win.
"These guys never feel like you're ever down," BArT coach Robert Daugherty said. "They always play like we're gonna win.
"That's what they do. They come back. They come back every time. This [Eagle Hill] team is a great team. Frankly, we were outmatched. They just played so well as a team.
"I can't say much more. I mean, I love it."
There was a lot to love on a night when Brandan Bamba scored 22 points, Isaac Bamba added 16 and Peets blocked
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nine shots.
Brandan Bamba had four 3-pointers in the third quarter alone. The biggest came on an assist from Peets on BArT's final possession of the quarter to trim a 48-36 Eagle Hill lead back to single digits.
That triple ignited the Wolfpack's game-tying run.
It came out of the quarter break with a 6-0 spurt.
First, Peets fed Isaac Bamba for a 3-pointer. Then, after Kymani Ferguson grabbed a rebound at the other end, Isaac scored in transition and got to the foul line.
He made his free throw to complete the coventional three-point play and make it a one-score game at 48-45.
Eagle Hill scored the next four to get a seven-point cushion. But Owen Brady put back an offensive rebound for BArT to start a 7-0 run.
Three possessions later, Peets put back a rebound. And after BArT forced a five-second call on an Eagle Hill baseline inbound play at the other end, the Pack came back and got a Brandan Bamba 3-pointer to tie it, 52-52.
Eagle Hill took its last lead of the game at 54-52.
With 2 minutes, 31 seconds left to play, Brady got to the line and hit one of two to make it a one-point game.
A minute later, Peets scored on a feed from Isaac Bamba to put BArT ahead by one.
Eagle Hill answered with a foul shot, and BART took another two-point lead when Peets fed Sawyer Mooer for his only points of the game with 1:04 on the clock to make it 57-55.
The Pioneers tied it with 52 seconds left, and the teams traded empty possessions, BArT regaining the ball with 21 seconds left.
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The Wolfpack got a good look at the basket when Brandan Bamba drove for a pull-up from the elbow, but it rimmed out. Peets got position for the rebound, and an Eagle Hill player was whistled for going over the back.
Peets knocked down a free throw to put BArT ahead, and Brandan Bamba got the rebound on the second shot and
went to the foul line with 7.8 seconds remaining.
He hit both ends of a one-and-one to provide the final margin of victory. Eagle Hill's rushed 3 at the other end was off the mark, and the Wolfpack started celebrating.
"This is the toughest team we play," Daugherty said. "Three years ago, they beat us 86-6. "This is a varsity team. They play a lot more games throughout the season. They just had a game yesterday in Connecticut, and they're playing three more games this week."
Daugherty said he full expects to see Eagle Hill again in the River Valley Athletic League playoffs.
"To play with them -- that was my goal," Daugherty said. "I just wanted to play with them at the beginning of the season. That's what I told my team. When we lost 62-61 [at Eagle Hill], we succeeded.
"To come back from just being destroyed just a few years ago and to come back and beat them. ... [My players] were so excited to play with them. They knew what [Eagle Hill] had. We watched them warm up. Man-for-man, they should have beat us. But our guys just played well as a team."
