Boys Varsity Basketball: Cowboys Lose A Nail-Biter To St. Thomas Aquinas

Cowboy player drives to the hoop against St. Thomas Aquinas. The game went into double overtime. Photo Credit: David Rosenfield

BY JOSH COHEN

The Cooper City Cowboys, who headed into this game with a 3-10 record, faced off on Tuesday night with the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders (3-11).

In the first quarter of the game, the Cowboys controlled the tempo, building a lead of 11 to 4, but the Raiders fought back.  Heading into the second quarter the Cowboys kept a narrow lead.  Even though they held defensively in the first part of the second quarter, they struggled to score and allowed some points later on. As a result, the Cowboys found themselves trailing 20-19 at halftime.

The third quarter seemed very back-and-forth and nobody gained a clear lead, but in the first part of the fourth, the Raiders dominated the Cowboys drilling many of their shots and allowing few points.  The Cowboys needed a spark to turn this game around, and that’s exactly what they got.  Senior players Greg Bonomo and Steven Worrell lead the team to a comeback that was unforgettable.

With a minute left in the game, the Cowboys trailed by six points and fought back by making their shots and playing perfect defense.  With about 30 seconds left, the Cowboys struggled to put down a shot, but kept getting the possession of the ball and with 9.8 seconds left found themselves trailing by three points.  A play designed to get the ball to Greg Bonomo was set up and when the ball came to him with only four seconds left, he drained the 3-pointer and sent the game to overtime at the score of 47-47.

A back-and-forth overtime period of four minutes took place and when it was done the Cowboys and Raiders remained even and had to go to a second four minute overtime period.  Heading into this period the Raiders seemed determined to play a perfect four minutes of basketball and that’s exactly what they did.  They forced the Cowboys into tough shots and drained many of their shots, leading to the final of Raiders 68, Cowboys 60.

This loss drops the Cowboys record to 3-11.  The team’s next game is at home this Friday against Pompano High School at 7:30 p.m.

Photo Credit: David Rosenfield