by Ed Shepherd
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

Came down to one last shot, resting on Shorewood Christian sophomore shooting guard, Jovi Fevaleaki's shooting touch, the drive from the corner baseline looked manageable, as, he rose up and let the ball fly from 10 feet away, but, the ball went amiss, and, the Three Rivers Christian Eagles, held on, 46-45, to beat the Lions at Chinook Middle School in Sea Tac on Friday.

"I was waiting for it to go in there, and, it just hit the side of the backboard," said the 6-4 Fevaleaki, who led all scorers with a game-high 18 points.

All that game-winning-shot glory looked good, going toward the hoop, like a perfect ending, for Fevaleaki, and, his team, coaches, and, fans, for this White Center location school to erupt into frenzy against a Kelso area team that's kind of a rival, with the Lions and Eagles having met at the 1B state tournament, too, last season.

But, no, it wasn't to be for the Lions, the game, the win, the glory, no, no, no.

It was an interesting ending before that last-second, Fevealaki miss, too, as, with 16 seconds left, the Lions called timeout with the ball in its possession, and, coming out of the break, they passed the ball around, and, nearly lost it on an errant throw. But, the Lions' 6-0 point guard, Stan Domingo, went diving for the loose ball and came up with it and got a timeout called as he was sprawled on the floor. That little episode changed the clock from 16 seconds down to five seconds, and, in that literal handful of time, after another timeout by Lions' coach, Alfonso Gonzales, he was expecting the ball to be taken out near his bench on the sideline because that's where the referee pointed prior to the Lions using their timeout.

"We weren't quite ready to take the ball out underneath the basket, we thought we were going to get it on the sideline," said Gonzalez, whose team took fifth in the state in 1B last season, even though, so far, in all non-league games, they are 0-6 to start. "The referee pointed to the sideline before the timeout."
So, that put Gonzales' team in a chaotic mindset, as, the play Gonzales drew up was for having the ball be taken out of bounds on the right sideline and swinging it over to the left side into the corner for Fevealeaki to take a game-winning shot from the corner.

"With five seconds left, there wasn't enough time to change anything, do anything different," said Gonzales.
Cramped quarters?

"Yeah," said Gonzales, who said all that but also said, too, that the blame for the play not going as he planned was on him. "My bad coaching, drew up play on the sideline, had a go-to in-bounds play, and, I drew up the wrong play for the situation."

So, Fevaleaki didn't have his best way to play for that play.

"The play was suppose to go to the corner, but, their guy came out there," said Fevaleaki.
Took the space away?
"Yeah," said Fevaleaki. "I had to drive. I lost track of where I was on the court. I rushed my shot, I thought I had more time than I did."

Just one of those games that the ball didn't bounce the Lions' way. And, though, the Lions are winless so far this season, that's OK, said Gonzales, the team's played tough teams, including a 3A and 4A team, and, a 1A team, and, being a 2B team, the lowest classification in high school sports, that explains that record pretty well for this high-placing Lions state team last season.

But, in this game, the Lions really looked like they were just about to run away with the game late in the second quarter. So, starting out, 7-2, ahead, after the first quarter, the Lions extended that lead to 20-15 with two minutes left in the second quarter. But, then, a Three Rivers player, Eric Powell, who hit no shots to that point in the game, swished a three-point shot that cut the lead to 20-18, Lions, with 1:30, in the second. And, then, two more buckets by the foe in the final minute of the second quarter, and, the smoke cleared, showing the wrong team roaring into halftime, with momentum. The Eagles led the Lions, 22-20.

So, close to putting the foe away there, the Lions were, maybe, one, or, two baskets away from making it around a double digit lead after the second quarter, breaking the Eagles' will, quite possibly.
"One stop away, yeah," said Gonzales. "But, that kid hit the three, totally unexpected. He doesn't hit that three, and ,I think, it's a totally different ballgame. Motivating swing-point for them."

In the third quarter, the Eagles extended its lead to 28-22 before Domingo crashed through the lane for a layup, making it 28-24, with 5:30 left in the third. Then, the Eagles' Seth Carns, who led their team with 14 points, hit a three-pointer, upping its lead to 31-24, but, Fevaleaki knocked down a long range three, cutting the Eagles' lead to 31-27 with 4:30 left in the third. And, not done yet, Fevaleaki hit another long-rang shot, making it a 34-33 game. And, exchanging baskets, and, a couple shots at the free throw line, the score was 36-34 at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, more back and forth action, lead changes as the Lions took the lead, 38-36, when Domingo missed a runner and 6-4 sophomore guard, JJ Young, followed the ball in, rebounding the miss back up and off glass. Then, off an Eagles turnover, sophomore Lucas Sollesvik made a layup off a nice feed inside, from way up top, by Young, so, 40-36, Lions.

Things were looking good for the Roxbury area school, kids coming from all over the SeaTac, Burien, White Center, West Seattle areas to be a Lion.

But, the Eagles' Carns, again, kept it close, draining a three ball, 40-39, with 4:45 to go in the fourth quarter. Then, a Lions turnover, and, an Eagles turnover, back-to-back, gave the host team the ball. And , Munson hit a short jumper, so, 42-39, Lions, again, trying to extend its lead and break the fighting spirit of the Eagles. Then, Domingo, off an Eagles miss and Young board, drove the lane, was fouled, and, made the bonus shot at the line, making it a comfortable, 45-39 Lions lead, with now only 3:00 to go in the game. But, the Eagles were game, and, soared right back into contention, with a Carns' three-point shot, knocking the score to 45-42. And, then, another of their scorers, Caleb Moore did damage on the Lions, making a short jumper, off the Lions' 21st turnover of the game. That made it a one-point game, 45-44, Lions, and, the tension could be cut with a knife, as, both sides fans were really loud now.

Then, off a missed Lions' shot inside, the Eagles got the ball and Moore scored it inside, 46-45.
Then, Fevaleaki, on the Lions' end of the court, got inside and floated, nimbly, with his body from outside the paint, hopping inside, with the ball raised high. But, the shot he let go hit the rim and circled on the lip for 180 degrees before rolling off.

That, brought an 'ooh' from the crowd, both sides, on that close-close make, and, what it really did was bring the Lions' fans to complete life, sensing desperation kick in with 2:00 to go on the score clock, and, their team down one.

"Defense, defense," they started chanting en force, in concert, both sides of the court filled with fans, plus a small section, pretty full, of Eagles' fans. But, as soon as the Lions fans started shouting 'defense,' what did the Eagles fans do?

"Offense, offense, offense," the Eagles fans shouted, trying to, and, pretty successfully, at that, drown out the Lions' fans cheers.

And, so, the Eagles did play good defense, getting the ball back on a Fevaleaki rebound. That set up the final two timeouts for the Lions that just weren't meant to lead to a great, dramatic win for the Lions.
"I got a young team, a bunch of character and heart," said Gonzales. "I can't ask for anything more as a coach."

Besides, Feveleaki's 18 points, Domingo chipped in 11 points and Sollesvik, seven, and, Young, five, Munson, two. The Eagles got the 14 from Carns, along with nine from Powell, and, eight from Moore.