Alvarez drains last-second 3, lifts Fenton over Bartlett
It seems as if every game during the early portion of the Upstate Eight Conference boys basketball campaign has featured a down-to-the-wire finish.
Tuesday night was no exception.
Senior guard Jose Alvarez connected on a 3-point basket with 1.3 seconds remaining while helping lead Fenton (6-3, 2-1) to a 45-42 UEC victory over host Bartlett (2-7, 1-2).
Alvarez received a pass from teammate Diamon King and knocked down the game-winner as the Bison rallied from a 3-point deficit in the final 85 seconds.
"Everyone was on (guarding) Andre Reed," said Alvarez. "No one was guarding me. They (Hawks) ran that zone. We got it to the middle and kicked it out to me and bam."
Nearly 4 minutes earlier, Alvarez, who finished with 8 points, hit another huge 3-pointer from the corner with the Bison trailing 37-32.
"Jose was due," said Fenton coach Chaz Taft. "He has been our catalyst all year at the point guard spot. He has been tremendous."
"I hit one (game-winner) over the summer and I hit one in a JV game but that's my first one in a varsity game," said Alvarez. "It feels great. We got the 'W' - that's all that matters."
King paced the Bison with 15 points and 7 rebounds while senior guard Reed added 10 points and a game-high 5 steals, the biggest of which came with 34 seconds left when Reed's steal and layup tied it at 42-42.
Reed faced the Hawks' box-and-one defense throughout much of the game.
"When they start gimmicking on Andre, it's kind of time for everybody else to get to the middle of the zone and make plays," said Taft.
Bartlett, which trailed 30-26 entering the fourth quarter, connected on its first 4 field-goal attempts of the period, including three 3-pointers - 2 by sophomore Ian Smith (6 points) and another from senior Cameron Kunzer.
Nick Kantzavelos' 15-foot jumper stretched the Hawks' lead to 37-32 with 5 minutes remaining.
With the game tied at 39-39, junior guard George Betevis' 3-pointer from the corner put Bartlett in front, 42-39, with 1:25 remaining.
"We had the lead and the ball with under a minute to go," said Hawks coach Jim Wolfsmith. "That game should've been ours."
Bartlett's failure to execute in crunch time continued on Fenton's game-winning possession.
"We had a foul to give but we didn't use it," said Wolfsmith. "We let them get the shot that they wanted instead of the foul we had to give. We've got to do a better job executing down the stretch.
"We didn't maintain our composure with that lead. The last thing a young team learns is how to finish games. That's the lesson we need to learn. Hopefully, we'll figure it out sooner rather than later."
Sophomore 6-foot-10 center Conrad Luczynski led Bartlett with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.
After splitting a pair of 1-point UEC decisions, Fenton captured another late victory.
"Every game has been within five points so far across the board," said Taft. "That's the Upstate Eight. We're just happy to be a part of it now.
"It was a fun game tonight."