But when you are Lakota West, ranked No. 1 in Ohio in Division I, led by junior four-star Joshua Tyson and junior three-star Bryce Curry, and convinced you can return to state and win it this time, you really, really, really want more.
The Firebirds came to win and to prove something.
That’s why when they walked off Fairmont High School’s Trent Arena floor Sunday evening, victims of a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by a four-star in a 72-71 overtime loss, they had the look of a team whose tournament run had just ended, like there wouldn’t be a next one.
“We down,” West coach Kelven Moss said just after leaving his devastated team in the locker room. “We knew that everybody in the arena didn’t give us a slight chance.”
But the Firebirds, winners of their first 13 games and a one-point loser to Reynoldsburg in last year’s state semifinals, prepared for this game like their season was on the line.
“We’ve been watching film, and I believe in these guys,” Moss said. “We’re a really good team. We knew we had that game. Just small, detailed things that we talked about, that we slipped towards the end of the game. We wanted that one bad.”
The marquee talent put on a game-of-the-weekend show.
Tyson, a 6-foot-3 blur of a guard, scored a game-high 28 points on 13-of-20 shooting, sped to the basket past defenders like a car doing 90 on the interstate, and dunked five times, the most, he said, he’s ever had in a game. Curry scored 24 points and was 4-for-4 from three-point range.
“We can score the ball at a high level, and we got two elite players that are on the same level as some of their elite players,” Moss said. “We just wanted to showcase that.”
La Lumiere’s four-star trio of seniors was led by Jonathan Sanderson (Notre Dame) with 26, mostly using his strength to get to the rim for finishes against good defense. Jacob Webber (Purdue) was a three-point force, making 7 of 10 to score 22 points. Devin Cleveland (a Michigan and Illinois recruiting target) scored only eight points. But his final three were the biggest.
Some of West’s regrets will be leading most of the game, including 38-30 at halftime, and not finishing. Curry’s fast-break dunk put the Firebirds up 62-59 with 51 seconds left in regulation. The Firebirds got the defensive stop they needed, but they couldn’t get the rebound they needed.
On a third chance, Webber finally got open for the first time in a while in the scramble for the ball. The rebounder found him and the crowd just knew. Webber swished his final 3-pointer with 31 seconds left to tie the score.
West worked for the final shot and Tyson took a fading 3-pointer from the right wing. The rebound bounced out of bounds off Lakota West with .8 seconds left. Moss called for a baseline out of bounds play for Tyson he was saving for tournament season. But, of course, the Firebirds really wanted to win.
Tyson worked free of a screen and popped wide open at the right block and received a pass from Tyson Davis. Tyson had to hurry the shot, missed it, was knocked to the floor and put his hands over his face in disbelief.
“I grabbed it and I thought I had less time than I did,” he said. “I really could have gathered. I kind of caught it and barely came down with it. But no excuses. I definitely got to finish that.”
The Firebirds went to work in overtime and took a quick 67-62 lead on Tyson’s spinning drive for two and Curry’s deep 3-pointer. La Lumiere’s Sanderson tied the score at 69 with a minute left to set up the dramatic conclusion.
West held the ball. When Tyson saw an opening he took it down the left side of the lane. He was bumped for a foul, still got the shot off falling to the floor, then watched it bounce twice on the rim before falling away to groans by the crowd. Tyson made both free throws for a 71-69 lead with nine seconds left.
La Lumiere had a play in mind. Inbound to guard Peyton Kemp, spread the floor, let Kemp get to the lane and look for an open shooter. Moss said the plan was to switch on all screens and no one was supposed to help on the ball and leave the three-point line open.
But Cleveland was alone in the left corner, caught the pass from Kemp and drilled the winning 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left. West was out of timeouts.
“Miscommunication on the back end,” Moss said. “They’re going to have to finish it on a tough layup, and we fell asleep on the weak side. And a big-time player made a huge three.”
Despite the sting of losing, the Firebirds did walk out of the arena and toward Monday’s noon game against Hamilton at the Cintas Center with more confidence and perspective.
“At the end we just had a little mishap, happens to every team,“ said Tyson, who has offers from Dayton, Ohio State, Cincinnati and others. ”This is just a small step in our long journey. It sucks, and this taste will definitely be in my mouth for a long time. But it was fun playing at Flyin’ To The Hoops. It always is. We just got to get on to the next one."
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