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Believe it: North embraces underdog role, tops Mansfield Legacy
By Richard C. White, rwhite@starlocalnews.com
COPPELL -- A basketball season is made up of over a thousand minutes of game time, but on Tuesday night the fate of the McKinney North boys varsity season came down to 5.2 seconds.
In the end, there were plenty of handshakes and hugs for Bulldogs coach Darryll Craft and his players as North had beaten Mansfield Legacy 23-21 in overtime in the regional quarterfinals from Coppell High School.
"I can't believe it," Craft said. "Our kids found a way to win the game. I couldn't possibly be happier for them. I told the kids earlier, this is something you don't get to experience often. It's once in a lifetime and now they get the opportunity to continue it. We get to fight another day."
"Collin makes a heck of a steal then knocks down two crucial foul shots," Craft said. "They got a good look right there at the end, and we were fortunate enough that they missed it."
Julion Pearre led the way for North with eight points while Jola Otubu had six points of his own and Curran had five.
"We found a way to battle," Craft said. "Mental toughness was the key to this game. They're bigger, stronger, and more athletic than we are, but we found a way to win and that's mental toughness."
Time flew off the clock from the opening tip, as the game maintained its fast-paced, low-scoring tempo throughout the night.
"They're very methodical," Craft said. "We wanted to do everything we could to keep it close so we could have a chance to win the game."
Though it was no easy task, North would scratch out a slim 15-13 halftime lead.
"I thought we played well in the first half," Craft said. "We got off to a slow start, but we battled back and took the lead and I'm happy with that."
At the half, Craft shared a halftime speech that would prove to be prophetic.
"I told them that 16 minutes doesn't get your dreams fulfilled," he said.
Craft was speaking about the Bulldogs' slim first half lead, but he might as well have been referring to the second half as it took an additional four minutes of overtime for North to claim the victory.
The extremely close affair would continue throughout the second half. North had the largest lead of the night at five points early in the third quarter with the 18-13 advantage.
Legacy though would roar back to take a 21-18 edge at the end of the third. With five minutes left in the fourth and down by two, Otubu drove the lane for a layup, tying the game at 21-all in the process.
"Jola has just been clutch all day long and all year long for us," Craft said. "There wasn't a lot of scoring going on, so there weren't a lot of holes, but he created a hole and managed to get to the rack and score."
Otubu's basket would prove to be the last points scored in regulation as North played keep-away for the rest of the quarter, waiting to take the last shot. The Bulldogs would miss a last second layup, sending it to overtime, where they would again run down the clock.
"I thought that the way this game was going we weren't going to get a lot of good looks," Craft said. "I thought if we shortened the game down it would help us on the defensive end because we had a hard time blocking those guys out."
Late in the overtime quarter, Curran forced a turnover and was fouled as he drove into the paint and went for the layup. At that point Craft said he knew that the Bulldogs' season was in good hands.
"If I could have anybody up there, it's Collin Curran," he said. "There's no doubt about it."
Curran made both shots, sealing the win for the Bulldogs.
North's run through the playoffs may surprise many, but it comes as no surprise to Bulldogs athletic director Mike Fecci.
"This is a great group of young men and Coach Craft does a great job with them," he said. "They've brought this school to a whole new level of spirit. Coach Craft is one of the best coaches around and this team's hard work has paid off in this playoff run and we're excited about it."
As the Bulldogs prepare for their fourth round game later this week, Craft understands his team is viewed by many as the underdog and that's just the way he and his players like it.
"I told them whatever we had to do, we had to get the job done," he said. "I don't think anybody picked us to go to the regional tournament at the beginning of the year, the middle of the year or even at the end of the regular season, so we know we're underdogs. We're going to be underdogs in our next game, too and our kids don't mind it."
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