Eagles deliver stunner at ‘The Dome’

It takes quite a bit for Hennessey coach Brady Page to outwardly display major bouts of exhilaration.

Beating the No. 3 team in a regional semifinal with some last-second dramatics will do the trick, however.

Layton Choate found himself on the beneficial end of a batted pass, scored between two defenders with six seconds to play then the Eagles’ defense did the rest as they shocked Alva 48-47 in the Eagle Event Center.

The victory boosted Hennessey into a Class 3A regional championship Tuesday (after press time) against No. 13 Washington at Perry.

“We made some big plays and are playing well at the right time,” said Page.

His team entered the weekend with a 14-7 record, but were winners of six straight.

Alva, though, was - and is - among the contenders for the 3A state title.

The Goldbugs’ only losses entering the night were to a pair of defending state champs in Kingfisher (4A) and Oklahoma Union (2A).

But they found themselves in a dogfight with the Eagles, who got out to a 12-7 lead in the first quarter.

As has been the case all season, a bulk of the scoring was done by Jael Torres and Cristian Rodriguez, who had nine of the 12.

Torres then burned the Goldbugs for 10 points in the second, though Alva was able to come back to take a 25-24 halftime lead.

Despite Rodriguez knocking down two of his three treys and scoring eight of his eventual 13 points in the third, Alva got eight points from Braden Hofen and pushed its lead to 39-36.

It grew to as many as six points in the fourth quarter.

Timmie Perry made his only bucket of the game - a 3-pointer in the fourth - to help keep Hennessey close.

The Eagles cut it to three points by the time the game’s waning seconds arrived.

Their chance to tie faded as Rodriguez missed a 3-pointer, but Torres was there to get the putback to pull Hennessey within 47-46. Torres led all scorers with 22 points.

After an Eagle timeout, they pressed Alva.

Kaden Slater’s inbounds pass to Austin Reed went behind its intended target.

The pass deflected off of Rodriguez and into Choate’s hands.

He took one dribble, one step and put up an off-balance shot as he fell to the ground.

The ball went off the backboard, bounced on the rim and fell through, giving him eight points for the night, but the two most important ones.

Hennessey’s trap had already forced Alva to call its final timeout of the game earlier in the fourth.

The Goldbugs were forced to rush a last-second shot, but couldn’t get one off before the buzzer sounded.

The dramatic finish sent the Hennessey bench - including the generally stoic Page - into a frenzy.

“Maybe when we beat Rock Creek a few years ago to make the semifinals,” said Page when asked was the last time he got so excited on the sidelines.

Now this team is - potentially - two wins shy of reaching state.

Washington is first up. The Warriors enter the regional final with a 17-8 record.

They ended the regular season with two losses, one to No. 10 Purcell and the other to Lindsay, which Hennessey went on the road and defeated to start the playoffs.

Lady Eagles see season end

The third time was the charm for Blackwell and that was bad news for Hennessey.

The Lady Maroons ended Hennessey’s season with a 33-28 win in the regional consolation bracket Saturday.

Hennessey owned two wins over Blackwell this season and got out to a 15-10 lead in the first quarter.

But, the Lady Eagle offense went stagnant and managed just 13 points over the next 28 minutes.

Juliana Macy scored nine to lead the team while Larissa Macy scored eight.

Hennessey’s final record was 6-16.