Casady: Preston Sullivan is king for a day...

By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com

When rivals get together, you throw out all records and you also throw out a lot of what you’ve seen in the past of the two teams.

You either get two teams that play their best or you can also get a hard-fought battle with tons of effort but little execution. We got the latter Tuesday night between Heritage Hall and Casady.

Casady 36, Heritage 34 (Boys)

In the end, Casady’s Preston Sullivan drained two free throws with 17.2 seconds left to give the Cyclones the win at Heritage.

I was expecting Ryan Shelley to steal the show all night, but Sullivan was in a better rhythm it seemed like all game.

He led the team with 14 points and just seemed to be in total control of his emotions throughout, which is so key when facing a rival.

Sullivan told me after the game that the atmosphere was pretty nuts for him, but he just tried to stay focus. The fans were going back and forth, and he had to block it out.

As for the free throws:

“I was just trying to keep my mind open and not think about the crowd. I wanted to act like I was back at the gym.”

It was a sloppy game, but a fun one. There six lead changes in the fourth quarter alone and the margin was never more than two points throughout the fourth. It led to a fun finish.

After Sullivan hit the FTs, Heritage called timeout with 9.1 seconds left. However, the Chargers never got a shot off, and Casady got to celebrate at Heritage for the second time this school year and start the chant ‘just like football.’