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Sunday, March 1, 2009
Armada Beats Richmond, Wins League Title

3/01/2009

In front of a capacity crows at Richmond HS, the visiting Armada Tigers defeated the host Blue Devils 49-48. The win guaranteed Armada its first conference championship since 2005. The win improves Armada's record to 14-4 overall, 11-2 in conference play. Richmond drops to 14-5, 9-4.

Richmond led 48-41 and had possession with ninety seconds to play, but then the Tigers came roaring back. The comeback was capped by a Damon Szafranski three-pointer with 20 seconds to play, giving the Tigers the final margin of victory. Szafranski led all scorers with 24 points in the contest.

"Give credit where credit is due", said Coach Barnes after the game. "Armada is a great program. They are well-coached and made all the plays necessary to win at the end. They were the best team all year long in our conference, and they deserved to be league champions."

Richmond's coach went on to say, "I take full responsibility for this loss. We had the ball, timeouts, the possession arrow, and a seven point lead with ninety seconds to play. To lose this one at the end was one of the most disappointing things I have ever been a part of in coaching, and I have only myself to blame. We didn't have our players organized, we didn't execute at the end... I feel like I let this school and community down tonight."

Richmond suffered its third home loss of the season. Coming into the season, the Blue Devils were 45-5 in the last four years at home. The Blue Devils next game will be on Thursday, March 5, vs. Cros-Lex. The last time these two teams met, the Blue Devils suffered a 53-40 setback.