Bizarre finish for CCHS in tournament

In one of the most bizarre endings ever in a high school sports event, Cameron County survived a last-minute building evacuation and some late-game drama to capture the boys' title at the annual Sheffield Holiday Basketball Tournament last Friday night.

The Red Raider girls placed third.

Matched against many of the same Kane High School athletes who had ended the Raiders' football season, the Cameron County boys came through with a 68-66 win to earn the trophy.

With the Raiders leading 67- 64 and 5.2 seconds left in the game, Sheffield school officials emptied the building when a fire alarm was accidentally triggered.

About a half-hour later, the teams returned to the floor and Kane's Cory Waigand was fouled while attempting a potential game-tying shot from three-point distance.

Weigand calmly sank the first two, making it 67-66. However, his third free throw caromed off the rim into the hands of Raider Mike Malizia, who was immediately fouled.

Malizia hit the first shot, but missed the second. Kane grabbed the rebound and had one last gasp.

The Wolves fed the ball Zach Anderson, whose shot from three-quarter court missed the mark and Malizia caressed the rebound as the buzzer sounded.

"I was very proud of the way we played against a very good team," said John Barnhart, veteran coach of the Red Raiders.

Jordan Crane earned MVP honors, as he tallied 20 points, with 11 rebounds and six steals in the title game. Dan Sullivan joined Crane on the alltournament team. He had 20 points, including 11 from the foul line, to go with eight assists and five steals in the finale. Jarek Holjencin, who also made the all-tournament team, canned a pair of treys and finished with 10 points.

In the opening round, Cameron County played stellar defense in pulling away from Youngsville early in a 53-34 triumph. Crane had 12 rebounds to go with his 15 points. Sullivan added 12 points and Charlie Holjencin tallied eight.

In girls' competition, Kristin Sestina scored 14 points and pulled away 15 rebounds, while blocking three shots, as Cameron County won the consolation game over A-C Valley, 46-38.

Whitney Lewis contributed 10 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.

Punxsutawney pulled away from the Red Raiders in the second half of the opener for a 46-28 win. Sestina, who was named to the alltournament team, finished with 10 rebounds, while Lewis and Bre Dunsmore scored six points each for Cameron County.