Senior’s moment lifts Falcons

A.C. Flora celebrated Senior Night Friday night against long-time nemesis Lower Richland and one of the A.C. Flora seniors — Keyon Hilton — made it a night he would not soon forget.

The Falcons’ guard made a jumper from the left baseline with five seconds remaining to give A.C. Flora a 52-51 victory and stretch their winning streak to six games.

“We didn’t have much time left and we had one good possession left and I knew we had to get a good shot,” Hilton said. “It feels real good to finally beat them.

“I’ve never beaten them in my three years on the varsity. Since we won this game we have better confidence in ourselves. We’re ready for the playoffs to start.”

It was a playoff-type atmosphere in a game that featured 18 lead changes and four ties.

Lower Richland (14-8, 9-1 in Region 5-3A) took its final lead — 51-50 — on a runner by Eric Eaves with 31 seconds remaining.

Instead of calling timeout, A.C. Flora coach Leon Brunson let his team play. The ball was passed around the perimeter until Hilton penetrated from the left wing. He drove inside, used a pump fake on Vincent Hicklin, and tossed in the soft jumper from about four feet.

Brunson elected not to call a timeout because he said every day they practice a three-minute drill in which they go through different scenarios where they’re trailing by one, two or three points.

“We rep it so much. We do a three-minute situation every day in practice. It’s beginning to become second nature,” Brunson said.

“The kids had poise and knew what to do. They knew the play we have in that situation and they executed it to perfection. It never crossed my mind to call time out. They handled it the way a true champion would.”

Lower Richland coach Zeke Washington thought the strategy played out in the Falcons’ (14-8, 8-2) favor by not letting the Diamonds set up their defense.

“They did the right thing by not calling the timeout,” Washington said. “They just beat us.”

There were seven lead changes in the final 3:30 after having 11 lead changes in the first half.

Neither team led by more than three points in the back-and-forth first half.

Lower Richland seemed to be containing and frustrating Matt Howard, the Falcons’ highly touted junior guard. After scoring six points in the opening quarter, he didn’t attempt a shot in the second.

But the 6-foot-3 wing player pulled A.C. Flora out of an early 10-point deficit in the second half. The Diamonds opened the third quarter on a 10-1 run to break open a one-point game at the half. Eaves, who came off the bench to lead LR with 16 points, contributed six points during the run.

But Howard scored eight of his game-high 18 points in the quarter to help the Falcons chip away.

The Diamonds lead was four points to open the final quarter, but Hilton gave A.C. Flora its first lead since the second quarter with a layup with just less than four minutes remaining.

The teams traded scores from that point forward until Hilton’s final field goal sealed the deal.

“It’s a tribute to those kids,” Brunson said.

  LR: Eric Eaves 17, Edward Stephens 15, Hicklin 7, Gibson 5, Walker 4, Edmond 3. ACF: Matt Howard 18, Rion Davis 10, Woods 7, Hilton 6, Roach 5, McDaniel 4, Ruff 2.