Cosby holds off Monacan

By Arthur Utley
Published: January 14, 2010

Just before Cosby freshman Nick Coppola stepped to the free throw line with 27 seconds left in the game, Monacan senior Jeff Conner asked him for a favor.
"He said, 'Could you miss these for me,'" Coppola said.
The Titans, ranked No.9 in The Times-Dispatch Top 10, held a one-point lead over the third-ranked and undefeated Chiefs.
Coppola buried both, then he swished two more with 6 seconds left to give Cosby a 63-58 victory that kept the Chiefs from gaining a two-game edge in the Dominion District standings and forged a tie at the top. Both teams are 5-1. The Titans improved to 9-3 overall. The Chiefs are 9-1.
"We controlled the tempo and played our style," Cosby coach Ron Carr said. "Good things happen when you do that, but I was sweating bullets when we were throwing leads away."
David Robinson knocked down two 3-pointers in the first minute to give Cosby a lead it never gave up. The Titans were up 18-8 after one quarter, but the fast and athletic Chiefs rallied in the second, outscoring Cosby 21-13.
The Chiefs were helped when 6-11 Titans center Matt Gorski (10 points) went to the bench with two fouls midway through the second quarter.
Bradley Reister connected on three of his five 3-pointers, and he handed out two crowd-pleasing (at least to the Monacan supporters) assists to Sean Armstrong (ally-oop dunk) and Anthony Brown. The Titans managed to hang on for a 31-29 lead at the break.
Similar to the first quarter, the Titans regained control in the third with Coppola, Robinson and Gorski scoring all 19 points.
The Chiefs were on the move and had cut their deficit to four points (50-46) when Gorski scored on a dunk and Monacan coach Bill Roberson was given a technical foul.
"It's my fault. I stopped the momentum, and I hurt my kids," Roberson said, "but you can't dig a hole against a good team. Good teams respond, and [Cosby] responded."
Gorski picked up his fourth foul with 4:15 remaining, but instead of coming to the bench, he stayed on the court.
"His presence inside changes the game," Robinson said.
Said Carr, "That's the longest he has played with four fouls. He covers so many of our defensive mistakes. When he goes out, our leads go away."
Monacan trailed by a point after a spin move around Gorski by Armstrong, but Robinson, who had just missed the front end of a one-and-one, sank two from the line. A Derrick Cates stick-back set the stage for Coppola's heroics.
"I knew I had to make them. I didn't want to let the team down," Coppola said.
Robinson and Gorski scored 19 points each, and Coppola contributed 14 points.
Reister and Armstrong led Monacan with 15 points apiece.
"They have a good ballclub and you can't stop them all the time," Carr said. "It seemed like the last four minutes took forever."

Contact Arthur Utley at (804) 649-6559 or .
MONACAN (5-1, 9-1)
Conner 0, B. Reister 15, Myers 2, Armstrong 15, Brown 9, Kier 0, Echo 8, Cates 9. Totals 24 4-9 58.
COSBY (5-1, 9-3)
Hinton 2, Coppola 14, Bates 5, Robinson 19, Virak 3, N. Gorski 1, M. Gorski 19. Totals 23 13-21 63.
Monacan ------------------------- 8 21 8 21 - 58
Cosby ------------------------- 18 13 19 13 - 63
3-point goals: M - Reister 5, Brown. C - Robinson 2, Virak, Bates.