Hampshire bitten at the buzzer

HAMPSHIRE -- Stillman Valley's Austin Kinman spoiled Hampshire's home opener Tuesday night with a buzzer-beating basket to hand the Whip-Purs a 52-51 non-conference defeat.

It capped a frantic final 10 seconds that saw the lead change hands three times.

Just seconds before Kinman's game-winner, Hampshire's Evan Brenner drove the length of the court and dished to T.J. Burzak under the basket for a layup to ever-so-briefly give the Whips (2-3) a 51-50 advantage.

The Cardinals (3-3) quickly rushed the ball up the court to Kinman, who hit an off-balance shot just inside the arc and right of the circle.

The Whips had rallied from a 10-point third-quarter deficit, but were stymied by 16 turnovers and 8-of-16 shooting from the free-throw line.

"The toughest thing about a game like this is it didn't have to come down to a last-second shot," Hampshire coach Bob Barnett said. "We had way too many turnovers and missed free throws.

"You can't afford that in a tight game. We also can't start games out as slow as we have been. We didn't seem to have any sense of urgency until late in the third quarter."

Despite the heart-breaking ending, there were plenty of encouraging signs in Hampshire's late rally.

The Whips trailed 39-29 midway through the third quarter, but came up with several clutch plays in mounting a comeback.

Mike Kozenczak nailed a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the third quarter and then added a three-point play in the opening moments of the fourth to pull Hampshire to within 41-39.

Brenner and Will Bush each had steals in the fourth quarter that led to transition layups. James Goebbert's hard-fought putback with 2:02 left tied the game at 47.

Goebbert had another putback with 19 seconds left that tied the game at 49.

"I like this team," Barnett said, "and I like a lot of what I've seen. We made some big plays and did a great job of coming back. The only thing is we need some of that earlier in the game, too."

Stillman's Jake Nicholson, who had a game-high 26 points, was a thorn in the Whips' side all night. He had 12 points in the third quarter and Stillman opened its biggest lead of the game.

Nicholson also had a free throw with 10 seconds left to play that gave the Cardinals a 50-49 lead.

"The frustrating this is we knew he was going to get the ball," Barnett said, "and we still couldn't stop him.

"Even though we may not be the quickest team on defense, we need to be smarter. Giving up 26 points to a kid is aggravating."

Burzak had 14 points to lead Hampshire. Justin Bieber added 11.