Boys Basketball: Osbourn Park 58, Stonewall Jackson 56

pfrommelt@digitalsports.com

Osbourn Park's Dominic Paige called his free throw shooting last season "terrible". Since then, he has been working with his coaches to develop a better form at the charity stripe. He has also been working on his ability to zone everything else out while on the line — not let the opposing players and fans get into his head. Paige went 3-for-4 from the foul line and scored nine points during Friday night's game against Stonewall Jackson. None, however, were bigger than his final two shots.

Paige stepped to the free throw line with 3.7 seconds left in a 56-56 game. All that hard work over the summer helped him zone out the Raider fans who doing their best to take away the senior guard's focus. He took a deep breath and nailed both shots, giving the Yellow Jackets an impressive 58-56 district win on the road. Both of his shots swished through the net, barely even hitting rim.

"It just boiled down to the last second shot," said Osbourn Park head coach Bobby Lake. "He took the best shot at the end."

Lake said that he was proud of Paige for hitting both shots, but he was equally proud of how Paige got to the line. The Raiders and Yellow Jackets were deadlocked at 56-56 for almost two minutes. Mistakes, fouls and turnovers plagued both teams in the final minutes. When the Yellow Jackets' took possession in the final seconds, Lake called a timeout to get his team organized. Lake drew up the Yellow Jackets' final play and Paige's job was to set a screen and then roll towards the net. Osbourn Park's shot was off the mark, but Paige was right in position to get the rebound. The resulting struggle for the ball ended with the Raiders fouling Paige.

"I wasn't just proud that he took those two shot, I was proud that he got the rebound," said Lake. "He set the screen and rolled and he was there. He had inside position. That's what happened. We got lucky."

The Yellow Jackets' Andrew Brookins led the way with a game-high 24 points, followed by Paige's nine points and six from Jack Adamson. The Raiders were led by Jordan Baird and Jamal Fofana, each with 17 points. Morgan Winbush added 13 for Stonewall.

"We are going to enjoy it tonight and get to work tomorrow," said Lake after the game. "That's how I always approach it, [because] anybody can win in this district, it's up for grabs."

Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Osbourn Park 15 13 18 12 58
Stonewall Jackson 20 12 18 6 56

Osbourn Park 58, Stonewall Jackson 56
OSBOURN PARK (58) — Andrew Brookins 9 6-7 24; Dominic Paige 3 3-4 9; Jack Adamson 2 0-0 6; Joseph Serrano 2 1-1 5; Patrick Derenda 2 0-1 4; Zach Bargeron 2 0-0 4; Brett Spencer 1 0-0 3; Austin Accoo 2 0-0 2; Wynton Wilson 0 1-2 1. STONEWALL JACKSON (56) — Jordan Baird 5 5-5 17; Jamal Fofana 6 2-2 17; Morgan Winbush 4 3-5 13; Mike Alexander 1 2-3 5; Darren Warren 1 0-0 2; Brown Dixon 1 0-0 2.