Tiger Killer

Tiger Killer

          Monday, February 17, 2003 was a red letter day for the Boerne Lady Hounds basketball team. Coach Richard Herbst took his team to Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos to face the Lady Tigers from Dripping Springs. The winner of this game would advance to the Regional Tournament, one step away from the state tournament in Austin.

          Dripping Springs held an advantage throughout the first half, maintaining the lead until the remaining moments of the second quarter. Sharpshooters Becca Nagel and Kendall Lundburg closed the gap, making it a 26-25 game at the intermission.

          The lead changed hands several times in the fourth quarter. With 1:40 left in the game Lundburg hit a driving lay- up to tie the score 47-47. With 58 seconds on the clock Boerne went ahead 49-48, but Dripping Springs came back to go in front 50-49 with 11seconds left in the game, setting up the shot of the decade.

          In a move that I will never understand, I made my way up into the stands adjacent to the basket. This was not my normal place to shoot at a basketball game. As I found a spot high above the action Dripping Springs threw the ball out of bounds under the Greyhound basket. On the inbound, with nine-tenths of a second left in the game, Herbst passed the ball to Ashley Chamberlin at the free throw line. The 6 foot 2 senior put up the shot that went through the net for the win as the buzzer sounded.

          I was watching all this through my viewfinder and pulled the trigger just as the ball left Chamberlin’s hand. The picture also shows the reaction of the Lady Hounds and coaches on the bench and the disappointment on the Dripping Springs fans faces.

          “Becca just threw an awesome pass to me,” said an excited Chamberlin. “I hesitated at first then just put it in. I thought at first it was wide right but it was good.”

“We thought we might be able to get that thing up there,” said Coach Herbst. “They set themselves defensively and we told the girls, all right it’s going to be there. Ashley did a super job of keeping her composure. Nine-tenths of a second really makes you nervous, but she squared up and hit it.”