By Richard Carrier
Contributing Writer

With three seconds remaining in Friday’s game against Richmond Christian, the ball somehow ended up in the hands of Blessed Sacrament Huguenot’s Thomas Murphy in the far left corner.

The junior sharpshooter squeezed off a 3-pointer that would’ve tied the game, but his effort caromed off of the back rim and the Knights went down to another agonizing defeat, 47-44.

Friday’s contest followed a familiar script – an early lead, foul problems magnified by a short bench, difficulty preventing penetration by opposing guards, and one or more offensive weapons negated –for the Knights, who have been much more competitive than their 1-13 overall record indicates.

Ethan Sill paced a balanced BSH attack with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Brandon Waldorf added 11 points and Murphy chipped in 10.

“I thought we ran our offense well and had good shot selection,” BSH coach Ben Pomeroy said.

Richmond Christian’s slick point guard, Otis Williams, led all scorers with 23 points.

Behind free throws from Sam Drewicz, a Murphy 3-pointer and Waldorf’s bucket, the Knights roared out to a 10-3 lead. But Williams answered with the first of his two 3-pointers and a jumper that beat the buzzer to bring the Warriors within 14-10 by the end of the first quarter.

BSH long-distance specialist Brian Clarke scored his only points on a spin move in the first quarter. While Sill was a dominant force on the boards, he didn’t score until just over two minutes remained in the first half.

“Ethan posts up better than anyone in the conference,” Pomeroy said. “Teams recognize this and more and more he is double-teamed or has to work against tight zones.”

After the Warriors’ Parker Eads cut the Knights’ lead to two, Clarke picked up his third foul and Williams knocked down two free throws – courtesy of a technical foul that counted as the third personal foul against Murphy.

Richmond Christian took the lead on Williams’ run-out midway through the second quarter, but Drewicz’s free throws allowed the hosts to go to the locker room with a 20-19 lead.

Foul trouble forced the Knights abandon their man-to man defense in favor of a   1-2-2 zone in the second half.

After Sill scored to make it 22-19, Williams and Grant Taylor penetrated the zone for baskets and Matt Nobles hit the Warriors’ first 3-point attempt to give them the lead at 26-24.

Murphy scored on a runner and arched in a 3 to re-take the lead, but Nobles answered with another long-distance bomb to tie at 29. Williams sandwiched two drives to the rim between a power move by Sill to give the visitors a 32-31 advantage at the end of the third.

“The difference in the game was us not stopping the ball; keeping their guards from penetrating,” Pomeroy said.

Williams sliced through the Knights’ zone again to stretch the Warriors’ lead to three and Zack Preston’s 3-pointer gave Richmond Christian a four-point edge with 5:46 left.

Sill powered to the rim and scored on a run-out before Waldorf dropped in his signature turn-around jumper at the foul line to tie at 39. But Nobles launched a cold-blooded 3-pointer to take the lead back with 2:34 remaining.

Nobles ran the floor to give the Warriors a four-point lead before Murphy answered with a baseline drive.

Williams misfired on a runner, but cleared the rebound and was fouled. He made one of two free throws to give the Warriors a three-point lead.

With 30 seconds left, Clarke’s heavily pressured attempt to tie did not draw iron and the Knights were forced to foul. Williams made the best of the one-and-one to give the Warriors a five-point margin.

Sill stuck back an offensive rebound. On the ensuing inbounds play, the ball was tapped to Murphy for one final 3-point attempt that misfired at the buzzer.