Olney escapes with win over Central

LIKE TRYING to get blood from a brick.

Sorry for altering a time-honored cliché, but the circumstances are screaming for it.

Bricks were flying at the baskets nonstop Tuesday as Olney Charter hosted Central for a Public C game and then, with 34.5 seconds remaining in the third quarter, referee Caliel Blocker noticed splotches of red on a basketball that was otherwise orange.

Ah, the ever-popular blood delay.

"He was telling everybody to check their hands," said Olney's Shakeem Stevens, a 6-foot, 175-pound guard. "I figured it might be me."

Blame a week-ago craving for pineapples.

"I cut myself with a can opener," he said, displaying his left pinkie. A pretty deep gash runs width-wise across the finger, almost at the very end. "Nah, I didn't get it checked out. I'm in my important basketball season. I didn't want somebody telling me I had to miss a couple games."

Did someone say miss? Like pretty much everyone, Stevens, whose cut was taped/covered by athletic director Cindy Dougherty, missed many more field-goal attempts (eight) than he made (three). He was successful when he most needed to be, however, and his running 6-footer with 7 seconds remaining gave the Trojans a 37-36 victory.

Well, not right away. First, Stevens had to hold his breath until Central's Romario Dorlus, having slashed in from the right side, failed to hit a contested floater just before the buzzer.

"That was poor defense on our part," Stevens said. "I was the help guy there, and I tried to stop the ball. Couldn't really do it. I was right there when he took the shot. I thought it was going in. I was ready for the sad story."

With 34 ticks remaining, Stevens broke a 34-34 tie by hitting the front end of a one-and-one. The second shot, also successful, was nixed because he stepped over the foul line too quickly.

Central's answer was a right-baseline drive by Kyle Lafferty. Though he missed the off-balance layup - he'd momentarily bobbled the ball - persistence enabled him to convert the follow at 0:16.

After surveying the situation from up top, Stevens made his drive right down the middle.

"I was pretty confident the shot was going in," he said. "Why? Because I was so close."

He added: "Driving, that's normally what I do. I have a knack for getting to the basket. I'm always trying to be aggressive, especially early on. I figure if I can score or distribute, that'll open up things for vice versa down the stretch."

So, how bad was the shooting?

The teams combined to go 28-for-99 from the floor, and were 8-for-45 in the first half. The score at that juncture was 10-9, favor of Central, thanks to a 4-0 advantage - yes, 4-0 - in the second quarter. Therein, the Trojans were 0-for-10 and Paulil Campbell bricked their only two free throws.

"Due to foul trouble, I wasn't out there too much in the second quarter," Stevens said. "That was painful to watch from the bench. A quarter with no points? Never been part of something like that.

"I mean, some good defense was being played today, but I don't know what was up with the shooting. [Wednesday's] practice is going to be hard. Coach [Ron Brown] will be running us. It's gonna be like a track meet."

Stevens finished with 11 points and six rebounds. Charles Brown added 10 markers and hit two big buckets, both off feeds from sub Terrel Kennedy, down the stretch. Ricardo Ferreira, another bench guy, scored all 10 of his points after halftime and - stop the presses! - actually shot respectably (3-for-6, 4-for-4). Tyheim Monroe claimed seven rebounds.

With 11 points, Dorlus was the lone double-figure Lancer. Kahlil Williams (eight), Dorlus and Rafferty (seven apiece) were tops in rebounds, and Chris Bing, a 6-5 junior who's thin and looks much taller, had three blocks.

Stevens, a South Philly native, now lives near 5th and Godfrey. He formerly attended Imhotep Charter and is a senior in terms of eligibility, though he's hoping to be granted 1 more year because of family issues.

He does not hope, meanwhile, to ever again be part of a game with a 10-9 halftime score.

"Come back and see us some other game," he said, laughing. "We'll give you more scoring."