- May 12, 2024
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A Sharks' basketball player takes a breather after Atlantic's buzzer-beating loss. Photo by Ray Boone
Sharks guard Kendall Bean plays defense against a Deltona guard. Photo by Ray Boone
The Sharks' Kendall Bean (No. 5) and Darshay Tompkins (No. 10) try to steal the ball from a Deltona player. Photo by Ray Boone
Sharks forward Dewarren Bolden leaps for a layup attempt against Deltona. Photo by Ray Boone
Atlantic head coach David Howard Sr. yells instructions to his players. Photo by Ray Boone
The Sharks' Dewarren Bolden cheers after teammate Kevin Beans tied the game with two free throws. Photo by Ray Boone
Atlantic guard Jordan Sears drives to the hoop against Deltona. Photo by Ray Boone
Atlantic forward Anterrion Harrison attempts a layup over the Wolves' defense. Photo by Ray Boone
Sharks coach David Howard Sr. looks on during Atlantic's game against Deltona. Photo by Ray Boone
Atlantic's Jevohn Sykes dives for a loose ball against the Wolves. Photo by Ray Boone
Sharks guard Jordan Sears shoots a floater over Deltona's defense. Photo by Ray Boone
Sharks captain Kevin Beans attempts a 3-pointer against the Wolves. Photo by Ray Boone
Sharks guard Jordan Sears scratches his head after a turnover. Photo by Ray Boone
Down two points with a chance to tie the game at the free throw line, the Sharks' Kevin Beans was confident. He’s always confident when he gets a chance to shoot the ball.
“I knew I was going to make both of those shots,” he said.
And with 20 seconds left in the game, Beans, a junior and team captain for the Sharks, swished both attempts from the charity stripe. Five seconds later, the Sharks forced Deltona into a turnover.
Atlantic coach David Howard went with Beans again; this time to deliver the final blow to the Wolves.
“He had a mismatch,” Howard said. “I felt like he had an opportunity to get to the rim.”
But despite the 6-foot-4 forward's crafty hesitation move to get by his initial defender, Beans lost control of the ball.
Deltona’s Jalen Monroe, who stripped Beans on his way to a potential game-winning basket, glided across the court to lay the ball in as time expired to beat Atlantic 57-55 on the night of Wednesday, Jan. 31, at Atlantic High School. It was the Sharks’ fourth-straight loss and their second loss at the buzzer in under two weeks (Mainland upset Atlantic 58-56 at the buzzer on Jan. 19).
A video replay of Monroe’s layup showed that the ball was still in his hand when the buzzer went off.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Sharks sophomore guard Jordan Sears said. “You play so hard for something, then in the end, it gets taken from you.”
Howard, who contemplated giving Sears — a skilled ball-handler and shot-creator — the ball to close out the game instead of Beans. Atlantic hasn’t lost four games in a row since Howard took over as the head coach in the spring of 2013.
“I guess there’s a first time for everything,” he said. “I don’t know what the deal is. It’s challenging me as a coach to figure out what we need to do to get better so we don’t have to be in these situations anymore.”
The first thing that needs addressing: rebounding.
Howard said his team has been working on boxing out in practice every day for the last three weeks; ever since their buzzer-beating loss to Mainland where Howard said the root cause of their loss was a failure to “do the little things right.”
“As a coach, you take for granted that kids in high school should already know they need to find a man and box him out,” Howard said. “It seems like that would just be something they already know. But apparently, I’m not doing a good job with that.
“Boxing out has been our focus. But it’s not working for us. It’s hurting us. It’s costing us ball games.”
The Sharks can't afford to let the "little things" — rebounds, turnovers, missed assignments on defense — keep costing them games; not with the postseason only weeks away. But even though the Sharks’ locker room echoed with sniffles and muffled cries on Wednesday night, Howard and his team still believe they’ll come out OK.
“We’ll be ready for districts,” Beans said. “We just have to trust the process.”
