Out of a New York state high school basketball tournament championship game comes the most incredible over-half-court shot in basketball history. Caught on video, no less, and posted to Deadspin and other outlets Sunday, March 3, and observable over and over again to your wondering eyes via the magic of replay. Yeah, that's right: Move over, flipping cheerleader, because the guy that made this shot simply hail mary-ed the ball through the hoop in a last split-second heave that not only shouldn't have happened at all but was the game winner. Even he "could never have imagined... hitting a buzzer-beater like this."
It is definitely a must-see-to-believe video for any sports fan and it has to be a heart crusher for fans of Mt. Vernon High School in New York, not just because of the loss but how it all came down to that crazy shot. So why shouldn't it have happened at all?
First of all, Mt. Vernon was favored to win...
New Rochelle had battled back to within two points (60-58) from a 10-point deficit with three minutes to go in the Section 1 Class AA championship game. But with only 2.9 seconds to go, New Rochelle had possession of the ball and were set to inbound. Theirs was not an impossible task to tie or even win but they had to go the distance of the court to do it, so nine players were crowded into the Mt. Vernon half of the court awaiting the long pass everyone knew was coming.
Except that the pass was deflected near the half-court line by a Mt. Vernon player into another Mt. Vernon player's hands. Game over? Not quite. The second player half-heartedly tosses the ball into the air in what looked like either a languid celebratory toss or a lob pass to a waiting teammate near the top of the key on New Rochelle's side of the court.
As the announcer tells viewers that "Mt. Vernon is going to hang on an win," New Rochelle's senior center, No. 10 Khalil Edney, the guy that had just fired the ball down court, intercepts the pass and simply heaves a one-handed throw in the direction of his basket.
Nothing but net...
The place erupts, New Rochelle players and fans celebrating the upset, once celebrating Mt. Vernon players and fans shocked and protesting the shot. Surely, Edney had shot the ball after time had expired, they were hoping. Even one of the referees had waved off the shot as no good.
Back to the miracle of replay. After reviewing the tape, it was found that the New Rochelle senior had indeed gotten off his shot in time -- with 0.1 second left on the clock.
“I can’t believe it happened. I’m in shock right now,” Edney told ESPNNewYork.com’s Mike Mazzeo. ”I just threw it up. I thought it was gonna bounce off the front rim, but it was all net. I couldn’t believe it.
"I didn't know whether it counted or not [at first]," he added. "In my eyes, it counted, so I started running around. Everybody stormed the court. I was under the pile when we found out it might not count. Then the referees huddled, and when they said the shot was good, I started running around again and screaming."
All things aligned at just the right moment for Khalil Edney to put him in just the right spot to give his team the upset win. The buzzer-beater was his first 3-pointer of the season. ("My first couldn't have come at a better time," he told Mazzeo.) And then there was the fact that he had missed the prior Semi-finals game because of a sprained ankle and shouldn't have been playing at all. But instead of sitting the Championship Game out, he taped up his ankle and hit the court.
A shot that shouldn't have happened from a guy that shouldn't have been playing. A shot that is getting plenty of attention on ESPN's Sportscenter and highlight reels on local news stations around the country. And on YouTube.
As it should be...
Edney gives all the credit of the made shot and upset win to the spirit of his mother, who passed away from battling cancer in 2006.
"She's the reason I made it. That shot was everything. It was a message sent from her." He admitted to being a momma's boy, noting he had those very words, "momma's boy," tattooed on the inside of his arms.
Heavenly intervention or just plain serendipitous circumstances, Edney became the latest hero from New Rochelle High School Sunday evening. The school celebrated in early February when alumnus Ray Rice helped his team, the Baltimore Ravens, win the Superbowl.
And there's one other thing. Edney also led New Rochelle to the state championship in football as their quarterback.
Looks like the young man is simply a natural...
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