Hughes’ basket stirs THS crowd
Slam dunk or two-handed clank?
Whichever it was, Jeff Hughes’ basket in the quarterfinals of the Tonganoxie Invitational tournament against Jeff West cued a roar from the Chieftain crowd, specifically the student section.
The senior drove to the basket against Jeff West and, with two hands, took the ball above the rim and brought it through the goal. In the process, he was fouled.
So, the question remains, did Hughes score a rare Tonganoxie slam dunk, or did he coax the ball through the basket and hold on to the rim in the process?
Hughes voted for the dunk.
“I’m going to say yes,” Hughes said. “The other guys probably said no.
“I got fouled too, so that’s why. But I made it, that’s all that matters.”
According to Hughes, coach David Walker told the team after that game that they would count it as a dunk.
When teammates were asked about the shot, they gave Hughes some good-natured grief.
“No,” said a smiling Gabe Belobrajdic, answering whether his teammate did indeed dunk the basketball.
As for Keith Wentz-Hall, he took a little credit for Hughes’ vertical.
“After the game, Jeff said it was all in the socks,” Wentz-Hall said.
The socks, which went up to his knees, were borrowed from Wentz-Hall, who also wears high socks for games.
Whatever the force behind the score, Hughes helped his team defeat the Tigers in overtime, as the senior scored a team-high 18 in the victory.
The Chieftains’ win was even more impressive because Belobrajdic and Kissinger, two crucial forces inside, fouled out and the Chieftains played much of the overtime without both players. Kissinger finished with 14 and Belobrajdic 7.