Going 1-1 in the district tournament is certainly not what the Red Hawks envisioned.
A 56-53 double OT loss to Portland felt incredibly debilitating until Tuesday night.
Creek Wood soared past White House 66-49 and then watched as that same Portland team upset Greenbrier in the championship.
The Red Hawks certainly come out of the district tournament with things to hang their hat on and things they have to improve.
In the double-overtime loss to Portland, the Red Hawks stormed back from a fourteen-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force OT and then did not blink when the Panthers went up three with under a minute to go in OT.
Twice they rallied to keep the game going.
That sort of resiliency is a plus going forward in the postseason.
However, Creek Wood will have to find a third scoring option, or do a better job spreading the ball around if they are going to continue through region play.
After a twelve-point fourth quarter that included the game-tying shot, Jace Herrell got face guarded through both overtimes.
That opened the floor up for Jamison Ford in OT number one.
He would hit the tying three to send it to the second OT.
In the second overtime, Portland denied either one the ball from the three-point line in, and face guarded one or both on multiple possessions.
No one else stepped up.
That isn’t to say no one can, but no one did.
The Red Hawks tried to force Herrell and Ford the ball and ended up with a Herrell thirty-plus foot three for the attempted tie.
It hit the front of the rim.
On the other hand, the game Tuesday night showed what Creek Wood can be.
In two previous matchups, the Red Hawks had scored eighty plus and had four or more double-figure scorers against White House.
Still reeling from the Portland game they did not quite achieve those feats, but still dominated.
Only Herrell and Clint Morgan were in double digits, but several more guys got involved.
Braden Dawson and Carter Thomason both had eight, Bryson Harding had six, and Jamison Ford five.
Now yes, Portland is obviously a better team than White House.
However, that does not affect Dawson, Morgan, Harding, or Thomason from stepping up in bigger moments.
One of them, or maybe someone else will have to.
Consider that more than likely Creek Wood will have to face off with either Portland or Greenbrier again, if not both, in the region tournament.
