MOORE HAVEN – Down 40-27 in the third quarter of the FHSAA Rural District 8 title game on Friday night (Feb. 7), Moore Haven had a choice to make.
The fork in the district title road was to either concede to Fort Meade or fight back and capture the trophy at home.
Moore Haven chose the latter option.
The critical juncture officially happened at the 1:15 mark on the third frame, when Fort Meade connected on a free throw to go up by 13 points. But the sense of urgency started to build up at the 2:38 mark, when Fort Meade senior forward Demarion Abrams (five points) connected on a three-pointer to put his team up 39-27 over Moore Haven.
This sequence is critical because that’s when Moore Haven (13-7) would go on to complete a remarkable 24-7 run to cap its thrilling 51-47 win over Fort Meade (13-9).
The comeback got started with a fadeaway jumper made by Moore Haven junior forward Shakur Williams with 12 seconds left in the third quarter. The score at this point and at the third frame buzzer was 40-29 in favor of Fort Meade.
From there, we got a magical eight-minute fourth quarter from Moore Haven.
The Terriers would go on to complete a 19-1 run and take a 47-41 lead with 1:47 left in the game.
The most pivotal moment came earlier at the 4:15 mark, when junior forward Aaryn Askew scored his only points of the game by way of a powerful driving layup. This sent the Moore Haven faithful into a frenzy that would last all the way to the final buzzer.
From that point on, it was time for the Terriers to celebrate their first boys basketball district title since 1995.
Hear words right below from Moore Haven head coach Ravin Lee and three of his players:
•Junior guard Clifford Love (Game-high 23 points)
•Junior guard Kendavion Holligan (11 points)
•Junior guard Shakur Williams (10 points)
We have a surprise for you to watch at the end.
COMING UP NEXT: Moore Haven will now need to wait for the FHSAA Selection Show, which will take place on Saturday (Feb. 8) at 2 pm. The FHSAA state playoff pairings and seedings for all classifications (Rural, 1A through 7A) will be announced on the FHSAA’s YouTube channel.
Moore Haven will be in the FHSAA Rural state playoffs due to winning the Rural 8 district title. As for Fort Meade, an at-large berth is possible as the Rural 8 district runner-up.
We will see what happens within the next hour.
Muck City Media Enterprises 
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