‘I can’t believe that actually happened’ says Bulldogs’ Aidan Melograna after miracle play
Aidan Melograna doesn’t practice missing free throws. Seriously, who does?
When the Wilson junior needed to miss one Saturday he came through, setting up a miraculous sequence that sent the Bulldogs on to a thrilling 60-56 overtime victory over visiting Methacton.
The Bulldogs (14-5) trailed by four points when Melograna, who had just entered the game, was fouled with 1.6 seconds left in regulation.
There was only one path to avoiding defeat: Melograna would need to make the first free throw, miss the second and hope the Bulldogs could rebound the miss, then hit a 3-pointer to tie the game.
Everyone knew that much.
Making it happen? That’s another story.
“I’ve seen it on TV a million times,” Melograna said. “It’s never worked.”
This time it did. Melograna missed perfectly. The ball caromed off the front of the rim. Wilson’s 6-3 Foday Sillah snared it and in one motion fired the ball out to the wing. Cameron Jones was waiting.
Money.
“Cam was there, and Cam knocked it down like he’s been doing all year,” Melograna said.
Jones’ shot capped a wild comeback. Wilson trailed by 14 points early in the second half and was down 48-36 with 2:25 left. It ended regulation on a 9-0 run to tie it 50-50.
The Warriors (19-2) helped make the comeback possible, missing the front end of three straight one-and-ones in the final minute after the Bulldogs were forced to foul.
Once in overtime it was no contest. The Bulldogs played near-perfect basketball and opened with a 9-2 run to put it the way. The Warriors appeared shell-shocked. They missed four straight free throws in OT, giving them seven straight misses at the line.
It was a stunning turn of events, to say the least.
“I’m proud that we hung in there,” said Wilson coach Matt Coldren. “It was a huge win for us. That’s a good team (we beat).”
The Warriors entered the day as the top-ranked Class 6A team in District 1.
The win was probably the biggest of the season for the Bulldogs and adds yet more fire to an already hot team. They have won 10 of their last 11 games and have moved into position to earn a first-round home game in the upcoming District 3 Class 6A Tournament.
Their record was 4-4 after blowing a 17-point lead at Exeter Jan. 3. They have come together since then. Freshman Madyx Gruber and junior Seamus Breslin have emerged to provide more depth and offense. Jones, who got off to a slow start, then missed about a week after suffering a concussion in a Jan. 11 win over Berks Catholic, has rounded into form.
“Cam’s back to (being) Cam,” Coldren said.
The Bulldogs got a big effort from their interior tandem of the Sillah and 6-3 junior Ofure Odiale, who battled Methacton’s 6-8 Cole Hargrove.
Sillah had 17 points and 11 rebounds. Odiale had 10 rebounds and earned credit for holding Hargrove to eight points. Hargrove finished with 14 rebounds and three blocks.
Cleveland Harding scored 15 points and came up big at the end for Wilson, with 13 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. Jones, who sat 10 1/2 minutes of the first half due to foul trouble, finished with 14 points.
Coldren said the Bulldogs have never practiced the play that saved the game for them. He’s never encouraged players to practice missing shots. He drew up the game-saver during a timeout.
Even though they hadn’t done it before Jones and the others knew what they needed to do.
“(Foday) told me before the play that it was coming,” Jones said, “so I expected it, and just knocked it down. I knew by the time the tip would get to me I wasn’t going to have enough time for a dribble, so it was catch-and-shoot.”
Somebody needs to get video of that final sequence to ESPN. There can’t have been 10 better plays in the country Saturday.
“We were down four and weren’t in a great position,” Melograna said. “Geez, I can’t believe that actually happened. That’s probably going to be a moment you just back on and (think), ‘Wow.’ “
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Final | |
| Methacton | 13 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 6 | 56 |
| Wilson | 11 | 5 | 13 | 21 | 10 | 60 |
| Warriors (19-2) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Meyer | 3-5 | 2-3 | 1-1 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Byrne | 6-11 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 5 | 5 | 14 |
| Hargrove | 4-10 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0 | 14 | 9 |
| Chilson | 1-7 | 0-4 | 0-1 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Christian | 7-12 | 0-0 | 5-9 | 1 | 2 | 19 |
| Blakemore | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lagana | 1-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Daddazio | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Brandi | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Totals | 23-48 | 2-10 | 8-18 | 8 | 33/38 | 56 |
| Bulldogs (14-5) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Jones | 6-16 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 2 | 5 | 14 |
| Harding | 5-11 | 4-6 | 1-1 | 0 | 4 | 15 |
| Ofure | 1-8 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 3 | 10 | 3 |
| Gruber | 2-5 | 2-2 | 1-1 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Sillah | 5-12 | 7-10 | 0-0 | 3 | 11 | 17 |
| Coldren | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Breslin | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Melograna | 0-2 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | 20-60 | 15-22 | 5-11 | 8 | 32/35 | 60 |
Turnovers: Methacton 17, Wilson 4.
