Lyons Township HS players celebrate after a buzzer-beater against Hinsdale Central. Lyons Township HS players celebrate after a buzzer-beater against Hinsdale Central. (Mark Kropke on X.)

Some of the wildest sporting moments, and calls of them, come from the high school ranks. The latest case in point there came last week in Illinois, where Lyons Township High School (in La Grange, Illinois in the Chicago suburbs) snapped a 25-game losing streak against nearby rival Hinsdale Central. They did so in incredible style, on a half-court heave at the buzzer from junior guard Owen Carroll after a missed shot from both teams, and that prompted a highly-emotional announcing reaction. Here’s video of that Feb. 18 shot, posted to X by Lyons Township teacher and coach Mark Kropke:

The sequence leading up to that final shot is remarkable. Hinsdale Central ties the score at 55 on a three-pointer with just over 24 seconds left in regulation. After that, both Lyons Township and Hinsdale Central players got open three-point shots, but couldn’t drain them. That saw Hinsdale get the ball back with less than three seconds left, and that led to the desperation half-court shot, which went through and led to the “OH MY GOD! OH MY GOODNESS!” call and the court-storming.

As Grayson Weir wrote at BroBible, this kind of game-ending sequence feels like the end of a Disney sports movie. But the funny thing with that is that those kinds of endings, often derided as unrealistic, certainly do show up in real life too. They did this time in Illinois, and that produced this shot and this call.

 

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.