By Mike Blackwell

Like all basketball coaches, Lehman Lobos head coach Thomas Acker will tell you basketball can be a game as harsh as the sound of a gym’s buzzer.

That was the case for Acker and his boys basketball team Tuesday night, as they watched Austin High’s Davis Franklin drain a three-pointer as time expired to give the Maroons an abrupt 48-45 win over the Lobos.

With the scored tied at 45 with 1:30 left to play. The Maroons chose to hold the ball for the last shot, but Franklin’s drive to the basket was thwarted by Lehman’s Ivan Melendez, who snatched the shot attempt and quickly called a time out with only 3.1 seconds remaining.

Lehman’s Robert Salinas inbounded the ball under the Austin High basket, heaving a baseball pass toward Melendez on the Lehman side of the court. The ball was knocked askew, and ended up in the hands of Franklin, who heaved the nothing-but-net shot from well beyond the three-point line.

“Give them credit, they did the three things they had to do to execute at the end,” Acker said afterward. “They got the ball, got it to him and he made the shot. We were trying to make a play to win it.”

The loss was difficult to swallow considering that the Lobos had previously lost a district game on their home court in overtime. Lehman must hit the road to face Westlake.

“It’s a huge loss on our floor, but this will end up saying a lot about our team’s character,” said Acker. “This will be one of our best tests: can we overcome this in a couple of nights and bounce back? We’ll see. I’m proud of our kids, we definitely battled.”

Melendez was the game’s leading scorer with 23, 13 of which came in the second half with Lehman overcoming a 26-19 halftime deficit. JaMiah Windom scored 11 for the Lobos and Aaron Rodriguez added six.