Joe. Holloway.
With under one minute remaining the North Forrest Eagles were down 51-47, staring elimination in the eyes. Eagles head coach Quenton Loving gathered his team together to urge them to pressure hard for a steal. Junior forward Joe Holloway who was sitting at 36 points on the night told his teammates, "we aren't losing this game. I won't let it happen."
Less than 60 seconds later, missed Amite County free throws, a field goal from Holloway and two free throws from Jaren Sullivan gave North Forrest a chance. Holloway took over. A steal, then the go-ahead basket from two feet out with under two seconds to play gave Holloway 40 points and North Forrest the 53-52 victory over Amite County, sending the Eagles to Jackson for the second-straight season.
"We were down eight, nine, maybe even ten points at one time, but we just kept fighting. These guys are resilient. They fight through everything. We had to go to some full-court pressure because we were down. We were trying to speed the game up. I think we got some timely steals," said Loving, "but Joe Holloway. What can you say? Career night for him, 40 points, and put us on his back in the third round tonight. It's beautiful. Just a dream come true."
North Forrest and Holloway came out of the gate strong in the first period, with Holloway scoring six points in the opening period including a buzzer-beater jumper to take an 11-5 lead.
The second period featured much of the same for the Eagles as Tyrell Pollard contributed with a basket as did Zeadrin Hawthorne, connecting on two jumpers of his own to stretch the lead to 20-11. Amite County closed within seven at the end of the period as Dante Bonds drained a bucket to end the first half, closing to 22-15.
The second half saw an entirely different game as Amite County pressed the Eagles defensively, while Kentrel Steptoe went to work on offense, scoring a dozen points in the third period. Amite County took the lead in the third when Jacoby Mickel was fouled on an and-one basket. Mickel missed the free throw, but the Trojans took a 32-30 lead.
That lead grew as the third period ended and the fourth period ticked away, as Steptoe racked up his 19th point on a free throw attempt to put Amite County up 50-40 with just over three minutes to play.
"They were playing man-to-man defense in the first half, but hats off to them in the second half because they made an adjustment and started running and jumping us. It got us off our rhythm, and they got some key turnovers," explained Loving.
North Forrest surged back though, as Holloway recorded 11 points in the final three minutes starting with sinking a shot while being fouled. The successful free throw attempt drew them within seven. Holloway continued his dominance, finding room for jumpers while Amite County could not make free throws. On the final play, North Forrest forced a bad pass, which Holloway read and stole to then sink the basket as the seconds fell off the clock.
"My mindset was I didn't want to lose. I wanted to do whatever I could to keep us from losing this game. When I looked up and saw I had 31 with three minutes left, I knew I needed 40 to give us a chance to win the game. We were down by a lot, but I just kept saying we were not losing this game," said Holloway.
"We knew we would have to trap and maybe foul if we didn't get the steal. They threw a bad pass, and Jo was right there. He read it all the way, then he finished it. What an ending. This is what playoff basketball in Mississippi is all about," said Loving.
North Forrest will face Coahoma County Tuesday on the semi-final round at Jackson Coliseum.
