Hugo (OK) HS loses playoff game on last-second shot . . . into its own basket (1 Viewer)

It totally must have been a massive vegas/mafia conspiracy.

No way it was just a kid making a terrible mistake in a pressure situation.
 
In an odd way it actually boils down to sportsmanship karma. They had zero need to score anyway, they just needed to run out the clock; he should not have considered shooting at all. The fact that it was the wrong basket is bad, and I feel bad for the kid, but mostly I think it's just sports karma again.
 
This is so stupid that I think it blew my empathy circuit. I keep TRYING to feel bad for the kid, but it's such blatant self-inflicted stupidity that in no way had to happen that I keep coming up with nothing.

And it's not like it was just bad luck like a wrong-way run or something. There are multiple layers of "Well, he shouldn't have done that..." at play.
 
Similar story: When I was coaching middle school basketball, I had a kid on my team who was awful. He seriously couldn't make a bucket if his life depended on it. I put him in one game because we had a huge lead. First play he's in the game, he grabs a defensive board from about 10 feet out and right away, fires a shot back at the goal. Nothing but net. It didn't really matter to the game, but those were the only points he had all season.
 
He had money on the game. Now he's sitting on a beach in paradise, basking in the sun and retired! :hihi:
 
Now that I think about it more, looks like it was coming out of a timeout, so a play would have been drawn.
 
Encouraging words have helped Hugo's Trey Johnson cope | The Oklahoman

Notably, this article is by Jenni Carlson, the Oklahoman columnist who triggered Mike Gundy's famous "I'm a Man!" rant with her negative reporting about then-OSU QB Bobby Reid being fed chicken by his momma. There's more compassion on exhibit here.

Trey Johnson was a special guest of the Thunder for its game against the Celtics on Sunday. That much you likely saw on the TV broadcast.

What you didn't see was the special treatment that the team gave the now famous basketball player from Hugo. Breakfast at the arena. Access to pregame warm-ups. All sorts of goodies from the Thunder.

And the seat he had? It's normally reserved for Thunder owner Clay Bennett and is right next to Chesapeake Energy founder Aubrey McClendon.

“He's a good guy,” Trey said nonchalantly, as only a 16-year-old could.

But for all of the pinch-me moments that Trey had on Sunday, he would've rather been anywhere else under the circumstances.

****

The stuff was nice, but what the players had to say stuck with him most. Almost every player offered him words of encouragement before the game.

“Don't let this get you down,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks told him after the game. “Just keep moving forward.” . . . Next week, he'll start baseball and track at Hugo. He plays outfield on the baseball team and runs the 100- and 200-meters on the track team. Add football in the fall and basketball in the winter, and Trey is a four-sport athlete. . . .

“I'm ready to start over and go harder,” he said.

Still, he can't help but think about Thursday night and his wrong-way basket. Chances are good it will stick with him for a long time to come.

And yet, when he thinks of it now, he will also be reminded of what has come after. The Thunder game. The Derek Harper conversation. The encouragement from perfect strangers. “It would've been harder” without that support, he said, “but at the same time, I wouldn't let it bring me down. I'm a strong individual.” He paused. “Stuff like that is hard, though. I was hurt bad.”

You can tell the wounds are still fresh. But see Trey Johnson at the Thunder game Sunday, then listen to him on Monday, and you know the healing has begun. Support has been a salve.
 
If you've ever played competitive basketball before, completely fatigued and thinking about what you're supposed to be doing on the play, it's not entirely unusual to have a lapse of judgement regarding which basket is currently yours. If he doesn't shoot the layup, he gets fouled and possibly misses one or both free throws. If he goes up for the layup, time runs out or at worst, they're up 3. He came off the curl and just forgot which way he was going. Unfortunate circumstances, that's all.
 

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