Haines Gets Proper Sendoff As Eagles Top Gators

For all of the bounces that have gone wrong this season for the West Deptford High School boys' basketball team, the Eagles couldn’t have asked for a more fitting bounce Thursday night.

West Deptford hosted Gateway on Senior Night, and the only senior wearing green and white was Jordan Haines, a player who never wavered in his belief that the Eagles were on the verge of turning things around.

With his team leading 57-56, Haines took an inbound pass and was fouled with 0.9 seconds left on the clock. He walked the length of the floor knowing, make or miss, his final game in a West Deptford uniform was going to end in a victory.

Haines missed the front end of a one-and-one, but as if it were on a string, the ball caromed right back to him, and he laid it in as time expired to complete a 59-56 win in Colonial Conference action.

As he jogged off the court, Haines couldn’t help but crack a wide smile as his final game provided him with a memory that he is not soon to forget.

“It was cool,” Haines said. “I was going to just try and make (the free throw), but then it fell short and I put it in. You couldn’t have drew it up any better.”

West Deptford head coach Don Clark described the game’s final moment as “apropos.”

“It was justice,” Clark said. “It was justice that the ball ended up in his hands, and he made a shot to leave the gym after he put all that time in.”

Haines finished with four points, nine rebounds, two blocks, two assists and a steal, but his game has always been about the things that don’t always show up in box scores. Rather than looking to shoot, Haines prides himself in setting quality screens, fighting for lose balls and working hard on defense.

His work ethic is part of the reason the Eagles were able to win three of their final five games.

“He has leadership,” said Justin Hansen, who along with Tim Fair, had a team-high 16 points. “He made us practice hard, got rebounds and did all the little things leaders do.”

West Deptford (6-20) needed every bit of that leadership down the stretch as it watched a nine-point fourth-quarter lead whittle down to two in the final minute. With the Eagles up 51-49, Hansen got inside for a lay-up that put the Eagles up four with 45 seconds left.

Gateway junior Joe Palmer connected on a bucket to bring the score to 53-51 with 20 seconds left, but the Eagles answered right back as Fair took a long pass and scored a layup three seconds later. Each team sunk a pair of free throws and the Gator’s J.R. Little hit a three-pointer with 2.7 seconds left to set up Haines' final act.

“It was awesome, especially winning against a conference team and finishing with a two-game winning streak,” Haines said.

West Deptford never trailed in the contest, thanks to Hansen’s hot start. He knocked down a pair of treys and had seven points in the first 3:30. The Eagles led 12-8 after the first period and 27-20 at the half, then took its biggest lead at 41-29 with 1:57 left in the third on a basket by Haines, and was able to hold on down the stretch.

The win left a sweet taste to what in many regards had been a sour season for the Eagles. West Deptford won just three of its first 21 games, but was able to finish with conference wins over Audubon and Gateway.

Clark said Haines played a big role in keeping spirits high all season.

“We were 3-18 and we knew we had some games we could win, and he always came into practice and said ‘Coach, we’re going to get this one,’” Clark said. “We went on and won three out of our last five, and when you do that it shows you it’s not the coach sometimes, it’s the kids in the locker room.

"He kept that locker room positive, and I think that’s what I’ll remember the most.”

Colonial Conference

West Deptford 59, Gateway 56

Gateway 8 12 13 23 -56

West Deptford 12 15 13 19 -59

Gateway: Gavin 9, Greene 12, Hellyer 2, Lester 9, Little 9, Palmer 15.

West Deptford: Jakubowski 8, Hansen 16, Haines 4, Flacco 3, Fair 16, Krott 6, Winrow 6.