Twenty-Five Years in the Making

With Vandy up by one point … and the Hoyas down to one chance,
Jeff Green’s dramatic bank shot kept Georgetown in the Dance.
And when the Tar Heels won the nightcap to leave the Trojan hearts breaking,
The stage was set for a classic re-match — twenty-five years in the making.

Georgetown and Carolina are linked in college hoops lore
By Fred Brown … Michael Jordan … the 1982 Final Four.
Now, the Hoyas could exercise the demons from that night at the Dome
With an upset victory in New Jersey that would send the Heels home.

From the opening moments of the game, it was abundantly clear
That JT III’s Hoyas — like his father’s — play the game without fear.
But while the old school Hoyas went at teams like a head-on collision,
Today’s team thrives on an offense run with grace and precision.

The Hoyas scored from outside and inside … and they used the back door,
But the potent Tar Heels answered back on their end of the floor.
The Carolina bigs crashed the glass with relative ease,
And were paraded to the free throw line by the three referees.

The Heels led by six at the half… on one last point at the stripe,
And the “boos” rained down on the refs, as the crowd voiced its gripe.
Georgetown trailed at the half in a third straight tourney game,
So fans had come to expect comebacks in the game’s vesper frame.

But Carolina’s lead had grown to ten by the six minute mark,
When Green ended a scoring drought … with a point and a spark.
A Sapp drive to the hoop shaved the lead two points more,
And Green cut it to five — slashing through the lane for a score.

After a foul by the Heels on Green’s long pass to J Wall,
Hibbert posted up his man and slammed home the ball.
Wright and Wallace traded free throws to keep the Heel lead at three,
Until Green wheeled into the lane and found Ewing roaming free.

Green’s pass to Junior for a lay-up drew the Hoyas within one,
And the crowd sensed that the Tar Heels were coming undone.
The Heels stopped the bleeding on two free tosses by Hansbrough,
But Sapp cut the lead back to one … with two minutes to go.

Then, with a hoop and a stop, the Heels were up by three with the rock,
When Hansbrough misfired on his shot attempt from the block.
Sapp was fouled as he beat the Heels to the rebounding spot,
And the Hoyas got the ball and a chance … to tie the game with one shot.

Sapp took the ball on the wing and faked a pass to Jeff Green,
While Wallace quietly slipped behind a Roy Hibbert screen.
J Wall caught Sapp’s pass in rhythm as he worked himself free,
And the Alabama Rainmaker calmly drained the game-tying three.

Roy Williams called a timeout with thirty seconds left to play –
Just like Dean had done at the Dome … a generation away.
Had fate brought the teams to this moment for a Tar Heel repeat?
Were the Hoyas back to seize redemption … or suffer tragic defeat?

While Williams drew up the shot that his Heels would be taking,
JT III planned a defensive stop … twenty-five years in the making.
And when Ellington was not like Mike on this fateful day,
Junior skied to snare the rebound that never came his dad’s way.

The Hoyas grabbed the lead in overtime on a nifty back door
And would get a dozen more points before the Tar Heels would score.
Among the Hoya highlights from their overtime attack
Was a Summers’ dunk over Hansbrough as he lay flat on his back.

Carolina blue flooded the exits with about one minute to play,
Leaving the Meadowlands awash in a frenzied sea of Grey.
For the Hoya faithful it was the stuff of legends and dreams:
A dramatic win to settle a score between the two teams.

“Solid … rock solid,” Packer called the Hoyas in the overtime frame;
“Like father, like son,” proclaimed Nance as the horn ended the game.
And as JT III climbed the ladder and cut the victory net down,
Three heartfelt words rang out around him: “We Are … Georgetown”.

This post was submitted by adamkasi.