Prosper basketball wins third round playoff thriller over Sulphur Springs to make history

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Kester Muthalaly

Senior Zach Wrightsil drives in for a layup against the McKinney Noth Bulldogs.

Zach Markey, Sports Writer and Editor

Prosper pulled out a thrilling victory in triple overtime against Sulphur Springs Tuesday night. The game exceeded expectations, and was undoubtedly Prosper’s most eventful game all year. As predicted, Zach Wrightsil and Josh Davis came up big to grant the historic win.

The Eagles started off slow, allowing the Wildcats to start the game on a 7-0 run. After starting off sluggish, Prosper found themselves down 16-11 after the first quarter. Throughout the second quarter, both teams struggled to score, but Prosper found a little spark to lead 21-20 at halftime.

Both teams went back and forth in the third quarter. At the end of three quarters, the Eagles were down by a slim margin, 35-33. The fourth quarter saw Prosper and Sulphur Springs playing their hearts out, fighting for their season. Both squads continued to exchange baskets, and kept the game with no margin for error. After Zach Wrightsil made a few brilliant plays throughout the quarter, Prosper was still down by 3 with :40 remaining in regulation.

In the last few possessions of the fourth quarter, Junior Josh Davis came up clutch. Davis drove in for a layup to cut the lead down to one, and hit a free throw at the line to tie things up at 46. After a missed shot by the Eagles, The Sulphur Springs Wildcats and Prosper Eagles were headed to overtime.

The game maintained its excitement throughout the three overtimes. The first overtime resulted in Prosper pulling ahead by 3, only for the Wildcats to tie it up in the waning seconds. No matter what, both teams found their unique ways to crawl back. In the second overtime, Prosper was down by 2 until Jerry Mcelory made two free throws to send both teams to another overtime.

The third and final overtime was all about Prosper. After Josh Davis fouled out, role players like Grant Shaw and Jerry Mcelory stepped up big time at free throw line. In a special moment, Senior Zach Wrightsil went up for a put back dunk to make the score 69-64, send the Prosper crowd into a frenzy, and put an exclamation point on the Eagles’ historic victory.

From the beginning of the season, there was certain feeling that this group was on their way to doing something special, as they did Tuesday night. The win marks the first time in Prosper basketball history that a team has reached the fourth round of the playoffs. Their fourth round matchup will be be against Midlothian at the infamous Curtis Caldwell Center Friday. The regional semifinals should be exciting, and might make for another historic night for Prosper.