When you’ve coached as long as Dennis Hutson, tough setback are part of the gig. This past week, however, would be considered a bit brutal for even the most tenured of coaches.

 

Hutson’s Indians dropped their last three games. While losing is always difficult, the fact the Indians lost all three games in the final seconds made it a bit more difficult to swallow.

 

Bridgeport fell to Fairmont Senior on Dec. 6 by a 69-66 score in overtime and then dropped the first game of the IOGA Classic in Glenville last Thursday to George Washington by a 65-64 score on a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

 

The heartbreak wasn’t over. In the consolation bracket of the same contest this past Friday Buckhannon-Upshur scored the game’s final 12 points and the Indians dropped a 54-50 decision.

 

“I’ve never lost three in a row, basically, in the last 10 seconds of a game and against three quality opponents,” said Hutson. “The bottom line is we had control and didn’t finish. In those games we didn’t’ rebound late and quit defending like we had through three quarters.

 

“It’s hard to deal with, but I’m not going to panic … I’ve been around this game too long to panic,” Hutson continued. “Typically, and I hope this is the case, things like this even itself out over the course of a season.”

 

The losses left the Tribe at 3-3 on the year.

 

In Friday’s game, the Indians led 11-6 after one quarter and were up 24-16 at the intermission. The Tribe added to its advantage heading into the fourth and were up 40-31 before the roof collapsed at the Waco Center on the campus of Glenville State College.

 

Bridgeport actually led 50-42 with a little more than two minutes to play after Paige Humble scored. Unfortunately, it would be the final points of the contest for the Tribe.

 

“I didn’t think we defended well late and their pressure became more intense and we didn’t handle it well,” said Hutson. “A couple of times, we just threw it directly to them including one that led to a wide open layup under their own basket. You can’t have breakdowns like that late and we had them on both ends of the floor.”

 

Rory Marple led the Indians with 17 points. Emily Riggs added 16 in the setback.

 

That setback came on the heels of the opening round game at GSC where GW’s Kalissa Lacy hit a corner 3-pointer as the clock expired to give the Patriots the one-point win. The last-second basket made the last-second heroics of Emily Riggs – who scored five points in 11 seconds to put the Tribe in front – a moot point.

 

“We went to a 2-2-1 zone press hoping to force them to eat time off the clock when they worked the ball up the floor and we backed off a bit, but she still had to make a tough shot,” said Hutson. “ … She was off balance and barely inbounds when she got it off so kudos to her. It was just hard to see that go in after Emily had just been phenomenal in the final seconds to give us the lead.”

 

Riggs would finish the contest with 28 points and have two other players join her in double figures. Humble finished with one of her best outings of the season with 14 points and 16 rebounds. Marple finished with 14 points.

 

The game was tied at halftime at 33. Bridgeport led 50-48 going into the fourth.

 

The run of last-second setbacks began against the Polar Bears at the Fairmont Senior Field House. The Indians couldn’t take advantage of Riggs’ 39 points and defense that held their foe to less than 30 percent shooting due primarily to 26 turnovers.

 

“Even though turnovers were one of the things that did us in, we’re still up seven late and that’s when they just pounded us on the offensive boards. It seemed like every possession late they had two or three chances off the basket,” said Hutson. “As encouraging as it was to see our halfcourt defense play so well, our rebounding was horrendous.”

 

Bridgeport was down by six points, 28-22, at the half against one of the top teams in Class AA.  The Tribe eventually took a 43-42 lead into the fourth quarter and seemed in position to win. BHS led 58-51 with less than three minutes to go.

 

BHS actually led 61-58 with seconds remaining when a harbinger of things to come on the three-game swing emerged. Fairmont managed to tie it on a Stephanie Vincent 3-pointer late and force overtime.

 

The Indians led just once in the extra session as they would suffer their first setback of the season.

 

Riggs was joined in double figures by Humble. Humble finished with 16 points and added eight rebounds.

 

“I told the kids that we’ve proven we can play with anyone,” said Hutson. “Fairmont is going to be one of the top teams in ‘AA’ all season and George Washington is one of the top ‘AAA’ teams in the state. I know Buckhannon lost some good players to graduation, but they’re still one of the top teams so now we’ve got to find a way to beat these teams,” said Hutson. “I’m not so discouraged that I don’t think we can’t do it.”

 

Bridgeport is back in action Wednesday (Dec. 19) against homestanding Liberty. BHS returns home Friday to face Lincoln. Both games start at 7:30 p.m.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Emily Riggs driving to the basket against George Washington, while Paige Humble does work inside in the second picture. Bottom photo shows Coach Dennis Hutson giving instruction during a break in the action.