Robert Ingram III's late 3 lifts Burkburnett boys over Hirschi in classic thriller

BURKBURNETT — Robert Ingram III came out of the locker room and onto the court, found his teammate Ayden White and yelled at him.

“That was supposed to be your shot.”

And it easily could have been. White had an open look in the closing seconds of the Bulldogs’ final home game against rival Hirschi at Danny Nix Gym.

But instead of firing, White dribbled inside and dished to Ingram open in the left corner.

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Splash.

Ingram connected on a 3-pointer, putting the Bulldogs up 67-66 with 2.8 seconds remaining. That score held up, despite a good look for Hirschi junior Jimmell McFalls as the final horn sounded, giving the Bulldogs an important District 7-4A victory.

Burkburnett (22-8, 6-1) and Hirschi (13-11, 6-1) are now tied for the 7-4A lead with one game remaining in the regular season.

“I didn’t think the ball was coming to me,” Ingram said. “I really thought Ayden was going to shoot it. That’s the kind of teammate he is. He’s not selfish at all.”

Beating Hirschi gives Ingram bragging rights over more than just the current Huskies. He gets them at home, too.

Ingram’s father, Robert Ingram Jr., is a Hirschi grad who still takes a lot of pride in his alma mater.

“He talks a lot of trash,” Ingram III said. “But he’s always there for me. He’s happy for me, but I know this still hurts him a little bit. He loves Hirschi.”

It looked as if the elder Ingram would have more trash to talk when the Huskies held a 65-59 lead with 40 seconds remaining.

Burk junior Ozavian Buford scored the final three of his game-high 35 points with 28.1 seconds left, cutting the deficit to 65-62.

Still, the Huskies could have milked time off the clock, forcing Burkburnett to foul and send them to the line. But Hirschi got two players loose heading to the goal, and they went for the layup rather than dribbling out and taking more time off the clock.

Burk was able to recover and keep Hirschi from scoring with no foul called. The Bulldogs quickly got back down the court, getting Buford another look at a 3-pointer. This time he was off the mark, but a loose ball rebound ended up in the hands of Burk’s Rmetrius Massey for an easy putback, getting the Bulldogs within 65-64 with 13.1 seconds remaining.

Burkburnett quickly sent Hirschi’s Giobre White to the free-throw line. The sophomore drained the first but had his second attempt lip out. Burk grabbed the rebound, and Ingram quickly worked it down the floor, trailing 66-64.

Ingram penetrated from the top of the key and kicked the ball out to White, who passed on a good look, pushed toward the paint and made a one-handed pass to Ingram in the corner.

A second later, the Burk faithful erupted with a one-point lead.

“It’s unbelievable,” Burkburnett coach James Moseley said. “This being possibly the last game of the rivalry, and we had so many former Bulldogs in the crowd. This is the gym that Danny Nix built. It has his name on it for a reason and to get a win like this with all of those guys here is just really special.”

With 2.8 seconds remaining, Hirschi did get the look it wanted. Jimmell McFalls received the inbounds pass near half-court, got two screens and dribbled a couple of times before hanging in the air for a 35-foot shot.

The ball was on the right line but clanged off the front of the rim.

“It was the look we wanted,” Hirschi coach Trey Law said. “But we shouldn’t have been in that spot. We were up four points with 47 seconds left. I feel like I’m supposed to get my team to a win in that situation. This one's on me as a coach.”

Both teams have one game to play with Hirschi hosting crosstown rival Old High, and Burkburnett going on the road to Gainesville.

Should the Huskies and Bulldogs win as expected, they would share the District 7-4A title. Then there’s the matter of deciding the No. 1 seed.

Neither coach committed to their preferred method of tiebreaker, be it a coin toss or playing one more game.

But after Friday night, it’s not hard to guess what the public wants.

Play it again. There’s no reason for the rivalry to end before it absolutely has to.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Hirschi Huskies at Burkburnett Bulldogs high school basketball score