Falcons let one slip against Lakewood
Coach Howle receives his 200th Win Ball. L. – r.: AD Phil Jones, Ken and Julie Howle, Dr. Greg Harrison.
Photo by Drake Horton
By Drake Horton, Contributing Writer
Editor’s Note: Senior Night photographs will be in the next issue of the News & Press
For the first time this season the Darlington Falcons lost a region game, losing 50-47 to the Lakewood Gators at home on Friday night.
Entering the game with an 18-2 record and 5-0 in the region, the Falcons, despite not being with starting point guard Frankie Johnson over the past month have been moving along as if nothing has happened. That changed against the Gators.
The Falcons, who are known for their three-point prowess, went a measly 3-22 from behind the arc and committed an atrocious 15 turnovers.
“I’m proud of our guys, we’re down a man and we still came down to a one possession game,” Darlington boys head coach Ken Howle said after the game. “We just had turnovers at crucial times, we panicked a little bit, we are all guilty of that.”
Lakewood grapples with Darlington at home Friday, January 29.
Photo by Drake Horton
The loss, however, was not without some controversy. Darlington, who is not known as being a team who commits a lot of fouls, was whistled for a game high 18 including seven in the first quarter compared to Lakewood’s zero.
Lakewood went 17-22 from the charity strip while Darlington only went 4-9. It seemed like every time the Falcons had Lakewood stopped a whistle would blow and bail the Gators out.
Despite the controversy, however, Darlington looked like it was going to squeeze out a victory and send the Falcons seniors out on a high note for what has already been an incredible career.
Down 22-21 at half, Darlington reestablished its dominance in the third quarter closing the period out on a 8-0 run and giving the Falcons a 40-35 lead. Darlington had started the quarter off with 6-0 run before Lakewood finally scored its first basket in the second half.
In the fourth quarter Lakewood worked its way back into lead, starting the final period on a 14-4 run going up 49-44. Dixon answered the run, however, completing a three-point play the old fashion way and cutting the lead back to two.
The game stayed at 49-47 Lakewood for the final two minutes with both teams committing multiple turnovers, as Darlington threw away multiple chances to steal the win and Lakewood squandered away chance to close the game out.
Lakewood had one final chance to ice the game away with 8.3 seconds left needing to hit both free throws to virtually end any chance of Darlington coming back to earn the win. Instead, the Gators could only convert one of two free throws, giving the Falcons one last chance to tie the game and force overtime.
That is where Dixon’s three-point attempt just barely came up short and the Falcons seven-game winning streak was snapped.
Offensively it may have been the Falcons worse game of the year. Outside of the awful three-point shooting and the controversial officiating, Darlington was just not able to ever really get anything going as the top two leading scorers were Dixon and Jalian Smith, each with 10.
Darlington’s overall record is now 18-3, 5-1 in the region and while the loss is not what any Falcon fan or player wanted the Falcons still control their own destiny when it comes to winning the region.
And one thing that all Falcon fans can remember is the last time a team this good lost on senior night was two years ago and that team made it to the state championship.
Weekly Recap
Darlington won its other game of the week, the Tuesday, January 26 matchup against the Manning Monarchs by a score of 76-68.
