Montrezl Harrell, a 66% free throw shooter, will calmly sink two free throws to seal the two-point win (Mike DeZarn photo).
Summertime basketball events are not supposed to be this much fun. Here’s The Ville, a group of former University of Louisville players competing against a team called Sideline Cancer at Freedom Hall of all places. The odds of them winning the one million prize and the TBT tournament very remote. So they’re mostly playing for the love of the game, the love of the community.
A crowd of 3,812 that seems much louder and larger, most of them on their feet in the closing minutes, behaving as if another NCAA championship is on the line. All but losing hope with The Ville behind by six points and time running out. Somehow they will hold their opponent scoreless the rest of the way. Montrezl Harrell, a terrible free throw shooter, now and back in the day, hits both free throw attempts, giving The Ville a 71-69 win.
The Ville had held a 63-59 advantage at the first dead ball with less than four minutes to play in the fourth quarter; at which point an ending target score of 71 was set. At the point, Sideline Cancer erupted for a 10-2 scoring run and the six-point difference. Fail to make one more stop and it’s all over.
Been a few years, much too long, since there was so much excitement involving UofL basketball. The fans knew it, the players knew, the community needed a win. Badly wanted it, could taste it, and they would not be denied. Whether home court officiating made a difference is debatable. Anyone who denied Louisville a victory was tempting fate and in danger of being stampeded on the way out of Freedom Hall.
David Johnson, one of the few players still polished enough to make a legitimate drive down the lane, would lead The Ville in scoring with 18 points. Russ Smith is close behind with 16 points, nine of them on 3-pointers in the second quarter, seemingly keeping The Ville in the game at the time. Harrell will wind up with eight points and eight rebounds.
Adding to the joy is seeing Coach Reece Gaines winning another game. As a UofL assistant to former Coach Kenny Payne, he experienced few happy endings. All he has to do now is win four more and his guys will split a one million dollar jackpot, or about $75,000 per individual. A team from Lexington could be in the immediate future.
.Montrezl Harrell doing what he does best, dunking in the face of bedazzled and bewildered defenders (Mike DeZarn photo).
David Johnson is in pain but leads all The Ville scorers with 18 points (Mike DeZarn photo).
NBA phenom Donovan Mitchell enjoys a moment to himself after signing endless autographs (Mike DeZarn photo).
The Ville returns the joy of being University of Louisville basketball fans to Freedom Hall (Mike DeZarn photo).