Israel Barnes hits ‘Kobe moment’ shot to raise Southeast over Heights

Israel Barnes said he deserved it.

He dribbled to the top of the key, dragging his defender, Heights’ Deante Edwards, with him. Suddenly, Barnes dipped his right shoulder and slashed toward the basket. With 22 seconds left in the fourth quarter and Southeast clinging to a one-point lead, Barnes pulled up and hit a mid-range jumper that proved to be the game-winner in the Buffaloes’ 68-64 victory Friday night.

“That was my Kobe moment,” Barnes said, a reference to former NBA great Kobe Bryant.

Southeast point guard Johnny Murdock stood across the court as Barnes scored. Murdock said he was surprised he even shot it; he thought Barnes was looking for a foul.

Barnes finished with 31 points after going scoreless in the first quarter. Heights coach Joe Auer rolled out a zone defense that forced Barnes and the Buffaloes to settle for outside shots. On his final shot, Barnes just manipulated the zone and found a pocket.

Auer said a player with that much talent is simply “hard to guard.”

“He’s a grown man versus the other kids out there,” he said. “We got a 14-year-old (Danair Dempsey) out there in the middle, and he’s 18.”

Heights had a chance at the other end. Point guard Curtis Profit came off a screen and cut to the basket, but his layup was contested. Southeast center Tarik Atkins stepped into the lane and forced Profit to adjust midair, throwing his shot off target.

There was a scramble, sending Murdock to the foul line up three with 1.5 seconds left. He scored.

“I’m very comfortable with my free throws, so I already knew it was going in,” Murdock said. “I practice that all the time. I know it could happen in a game, so I came out confident.”

Southeast coach Melvin Herring said with every eye in the gym on him, Murdock’s free throw was just as impressive as Barnes’ shot seconds before.

“That was big-time,” Herring said. “And for that young man, being a junior, is pretty impressive.”

The free throw made it a four-point game, where it finished, but for the first half, the game seemed Heights’ to lose. Late in the second quarter, the Falcons held a double-digit lead, and Barnes was yet to decode Heights’ zone defense.

In the second half, Auer said his team got dominated in rebounding. Southeast had countless second-chance opportunities off offensive rebounds that led to easy buckets underneath or kick-out three-pointers.

Herring said Heights walked into the gym with a lot of height on its roster but said height doesn’t translate to rebounds.

“It’s how bad you want it,” he said. “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight. It’s the heart of the dog.”

The Buffaloes’ win moves them even with Heights atop the City League at 6-1 with a heavy slate of games still to play.

Herring said with so much basketball to come, he doesn’t know if Barnes’ shot Friday night will be the one he remembers after he is gone.

Barnes said all his preparation has gotten him to that moment.

“I felt like I owed it to myself,” Barnes said. “All the work that I put in and just how much God has blessed me to take the shots.”

This story was originally published January 5, 2018 at 11:41 PM with the headline "Israel Barnes hits ‘Kobe moment’ shot to raise Southeast over Heights."