One thing about rivalry games is that comebacks are common and contests are not over until they’re over. Trailing by two points with 1.8 seconds to play, Hanover’s Greg Lewis rebounded a missed free throw from Lee-Davis’ Justin Naumann, drove just past the half court line and launched a prayer that swished through the net. Unfortunately, Lewis’ shot came just after the buzzer and the Lee-Davis escaped with a 54-52 win.

  “I’m just glad it was 1.8 and not 2.1 If it’s 2.1 this is a different story,” said Lee-Davis head coach Tripp Metzger. “I didn’t think they could do much with it if we missed a shot…but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Good players make shots. Just lucky for us they were out of time.”

  Coming out of the locker room at the half, visiting Lee-Davis (1-0 Capital, 3-1) used a 26-9 run to turn a six-point deficit into a 11-point lead two minutes into the fourth.

  But the Hawks did not fold, outscoring the C-feds 13-2 over the next four and a half minutes to retake a 51-50 lead with 58 seconds to play.

  Yet with the game on the line, Naumann stepped up big as he had done throughout the second half, taking a pass inside from Chris Cook to score and put the C-feds back on top.

  Then with :26.3 to play, Hanover (1-1, 1-4) stopped the clock by fouling Greg Frame, who connected on both free throws for a 54-51 Lee-Davis lead.

  But 12 seconds later, Naumann made his biggest mistake of the game by fouling Hanover’s Stephen Alexander on a three-point attempt, sending him to the line with a chance to tie the contest.

  Alexander hit the first free throw but missed the ensuing two and Hanover was then forced to foul Naumann with 1.8 that set up the dramatic ending.

  Fresh off their first win of the season defeating Atlee on Tuesday night, the young Hanover squad started off the game with ferocity picking up steals and forcing turnovers.

  Though Lee-Davis held a height disadvantage, Hanover’s quick hands made the difference in the first half getting the upper hand through steals when Lee-Davis brought rebounds low.

  “A couple of times I thought it hurt us,” Metzger said. “They got their hands in there and we kept bringing the rebound down low and giving them an opportunity.” 

  “They kept their pressure up,” said C-fed senior Dustin Abele. “Good pressure. They made us sometimes frustrated and clueless on what to do with the ball.”

  A steal and layup from Hanover’s Jerel Jennings at the end of the first was followed by the same from Danny Trsic at the start of the second. And when Marzae Brooks put back a miss, the Hawks had pulled out to a 16-11 lead.

  However, Lee-Davis came back to knot the game at 19 following a steal and layup from Cook and a Cook to Joey Labons layup three minutes into the second.
  But the C-feds went cold over the final four minutes of the quarter while the Hawks caught fire from the parameter.

  A short jumper from Lewis was followed by a three from the left wing by Alexander. Then a three from the right wing by Lewis gave Hanover a 27-21 lead heading into the locker room.

  But coming out of the break, Lee-Davis made adjustments in their rebounding deficiencies. “We had, I would say, a spirited talk about bringing that ball down and giving those shorter guys a chance at it,” Metzger said. “There’s seniors on our team and they stepped up tonight and Justin Naumann really decided to make the change.”

  In the second half Naumann became a commanding presence in the post, dominating the boards by keeping the ball high altering the way he rebounded. 

  “That’s hard when you have the habit of bringing it down,” Metzger said. “He’s got tremendous leaping ability but he just brings it down because momentum goes there. For him to keep it there we almost went to a volleyball play where he taps it in after a missed shot.”

  Naumann scored on back-to-back put backs of misses from Jordan Boze and Frame. Then Boze scored inside to knot the game a 27.

  Hanover temporarily retook the lead on a pair of free throws from Alexander but Naumann answered with another put back of a Boze miss. Cook pushed the lead to 32-29 on a steal and plus-one layup but Lewis re-tied the game on a three from the left baseline.

  The score remained close until Lee-Davis began to pull away over the final minute of the third.

  Tied at 36, the C-feds scored 11 straight, capped by Lee-Davis’ only three of the night which came from an unlikely source. Abele, not known for his outside shooting, started the quarter by faking a three then passing inside to Cook for a score after the Hawks defense reacted. A minute later when Abele got the ball beyond the arc Hanover was not going to be fooled and remained in the post, so Abele shot the three for a 47-36 lead.

  But Hanover closed the gap from the line over the final six minutes of the game, where the Hawks were 7-of-8 until the final seconds.

  “(Hanover’s) Coach Manns used his timeouts and he used them wisely,” Metzger said. “He really settled his kids down. We were getting some steals and got some buckets. We wanted to run there late in the third early in the fourth and he really settled his team down.”

  “They made their shots and that’s what a good team does,” Frame said.

  Abele, who had watched the Lee-Davis girls fall to a similar Hanover comeback earlier in the evening said teamwork was what pulled the C-feds through. “We just tried our hardest and worked as a team,” Abele said. “That’s one of our goals, work as a team, play as a team, lose as a team, win as a team.”

  Though being the concentration of the opposing defenses, Hanover’s Lewis and Lee-Davis Cook led their respective teams in scoring, each picking up 17 points on the night. While Lewis connected on trio of threes, Cook did most of his work driving into the paint.

  Banged up from a very physical game against Colonial Heights on Monday, Cook battled through the pain to get the win over Hanover. “Until that kid just physically cannot not do it for us he’s going to be on the court,” Metzger said of Cook. “When he’s not scoring he’s getting the ball up the court. He’s passing it, whatever, he’s leading us.”

  In his first game of the season, senior Chuckie Griffin (6 points), a transfer from Armstrong, turned in a solid performance for the C-feds. “We put him in there the second quarter to see what he could do and he gave us a spark there,” Metzger said. “He’s a very spirited young man. So we’re going to be keep playing him in.”

LEE-DAVIS (1-0 Capital, 3-1) Cook 17, Frame 6, Naumann 11, Boze 2, Abele 8, Griffin 6, Labons 4
HANOVER (1-1, 1-4) Taylor 11, Trsic 8, Lewis 17, Rogers 3, Brooks 2, Lyons 2, Jennings 2, Alexander 7
Lee-Davis…...… 11 10 19 14 – 54
Hanover……...... 12 15   9 16 – 52
3-point goals: Han- Taylor 3, Lewis 3, Alexander 2, Rogers 1; LD- Abele