A game which originally ended in heartbreak for one team may have had almost as many perks as bringing home the win.
In mid-February, the Rock Creek Junior High boys basketball team was losing in the final moments of the semifinal League Tournament game.
“We were down by one point with six seconds to go,” explained Rock Creek Activities and Athletics Director Scott Harshbarger. “The coach drew up a play, and the kids executed the play perfectly.”
Eighth grade team member Cameron Minihan drove to the basket for a lay-up to clench the win. However, the shot didn’t quite play out as planned.
“Cameron put the shot up, but it just stayed on the rim,” said Harshbarger.
A jump ball was called right as the buzzer sounded, causing a crushing one point loss for the Mustangs.
“I kind of fell on the floor, but once I looked up, I saw the ball bounce on the rim,” Minihan recalled. “I was devastated. I felt like I had lost the game for the team.”
But, the sadness was to be short-lived. A fan from the opposing team caught the once-in-a-lifetime shot on video, and within hours of uploading it to social media, the play went viral. Major sports outlets such as ESPN and Sports Illustrated picked up the story, and the clip caught national attention.
“I didn’t know about it until I saw it on Twitter,” said Rock Creek senior Jackson Goodmiller. “I started looking at the big Twitter sites that had the blue check mark and they started Tweeting the video. It was awesome having my school noticed like that, even though it was a loss.”
In addition to the millions of views, the players received an added surprise when basketball equipment manufacturer “Goalrilla” contacted the school wanting to donate a goal in recognition of the team.“They said that they would like to donate a goal to our school on behalf of this team to encourage them to not be defeated totally by the loss and to keep shooting,” said Harshbarger.
The goal was installed and officially opened on Tuesday, April 14 as the players took a few ceremonial first shots in front of the student body. Although Minihan maintained he would have rather had the first-place medal than the fame, he said he can already see the benefit the goal is having on the community.
“I think it’s great that everybody can use it,” said Minihan. “When I drive in in the morning, there are a bunch of people that are already playing on this goal, so that’s good.”
Minihan added that the upset hasn’t had any effect on his future plans as an athlete, and that he plans to play for Rock Creek’s high school basketball team this coming year.
