TIFTON, GA -- Rival boys teams Deerfield-Windsor and Sherwood Christian battled for the GISA Region Championship Saturday night in Tifton. Deerfield Head Basketball Coach Gordy Gruhl was battling a whole different animal.
Gruhl needed one win to notch his 1,000th career coaching victory.
The Knights captured the title defeating the Eagles 53-31, and Gruhl captured a moment many coaches never dream about.
“As the clock went down, you know they say your life flashes before you before you're about to die. I saw a lot of players’ faces as that clock was ticking down to zero. I thought of a lot of guys and girls that made all of these wins possible,” Gruhl said.
Deerfield took a 25-14 lead in to halftime after Ramello Carter nailed a long distance three pointer as time expired. Sherwood Christian made a valiant comeback getting as close as five points in the third quarter, but Deerfield wore the Eagles down in the final eight minutes.
The player of the night, Carter, couldn’t have been prouder of his team and their head coach.
“What are the odds of that? Getting it on the last game- the thousandth win being the region championship? We wanted to get that one bad and I'm glad we got it for him,” Carter said.
Deerfield went two for two on titles Saturday.
The Lady Knights defeated Westfield 26-25 by a last second free throw.
Senior Candace Cosby scored her first point of the season at the most critical part of the game. Cosby nailed a free throw with less than a second remaining on the clock to give her Lady Knights the win.
Due to a knee injury, Cosby was playing in only her third game of the season. Even after several Westfield timeouts to ice the senior, Cosby walked confidently to the line and sunk the game-winning shot.
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