Video: Pass from the floor, beyond half-court buzzer beater sends Rockridge to Illinois 2A state title game

By Leland Gordon Mar 11, 2016, 11:00pm

A pass from the ground starts an insane ending to an Illinois semifinal.

Video: Insane buzzer-beater in Illinois
See how Rockridge made its way to the state title game.


Sometimes it's not the destination (a trip to the state title game due to a buzzer-beater from beyond half-court). Sometimes it's about the journey.

An example of that came Friday in a Class 2A semifinal in Illinois between Rockridge (Taylor Ridge, Ill.) and Hales Franciscan (Chicago).

The obvious thing to pull from the video above is that junior Carson Frakes nailed an amazing buzzer-beater to lead Rockridge to a 45-43 victory over Hales Franciscan, sending his team to the state title game.



What can get lost is the cool-under-pressure pass that got him the ball. Gentry Whiteman ended up falling to the floor while he had the ball and it looked like the game was over. But the junior refused to relent, somehow flinging the ball to Frakes, who obviously took care of the hard work.

"It was probably one of the most exciting high school basketball games that I've ever been involved in," Hales coach Gary London told the Chicago Tribune. "It was a heck of a shot to win the game."

Now the Rockets are bound for the state title game. Nice work, Gentry and Carson. Just like you drew it up, right?