O-R Athlete of the Week: Lane Allison, West Greene
Name: Lane Allison
School: West Greene
Grade: Senior
Sport: Basketball
Allison’s week: A couple of days had passed, but Allison was still answering text messages and phone calls about the miracle shot he pulled off at the end of West Greene’s game against Chartiers-Houston Friday night.
The 75-foot heave at the buzzer, which was a perfect swish through the hoop, gave the Pioneers a 52-51 victory and a story for Allison to tell for the rest of his life.
“People are messaging me left and right,” Allison said. “It’s pretty awesome.”
The basket finished off a 27-point night for Allison and a big win for the Pioneers, who are tied for first place in the Class 2A, Section 3 standings with Jefferson-Morgan at 3-0.
The Shot: Allison said he had never tried a full-length court shot before, but he did it twice in one half during Friday night’s game. The first one was at the end of the third quarter out of desperation and it didn’t come close.
The second one was also out of desperation. After Chartiers-Houston’s Jake Perchinsky scored a go-ahead layup, Allison said he peaked up at the clock, saw there was little time left and fired the ball at the hoop as soon as it was inbounded to him.
“About halfway when I saw it curving towards the basket, I thought it had a chance,” Allison said.
The reaction: After the ball went through the hoop, Allison doesn’t have much recollection of what happened next.
“I remember jumping up and untucking my jersey,” Allison said. “I blacked out after that. I can’t remember much of anything that happened other than being tackled into the wall by my coach.”
Thankfully, West Greene Athletics livestreamed the game on YouTube, so everything is on video.
After the ball went in, Allison ran the full length of the court and was chased down, then subsequently mobbed by his teammates.
Allison’s father, Jeremiah, had a great seat for the shot. He’s the clock operator for West Greene boys basketball home games.
“You can see his reaction on the livestream,” Allison said about his dad. “He was just asking the refs to make sure it was a good basket.”
Late-game heroics: The buzzer-beater wasn’t the first time Allison has made a late impact on a game this school year.
He made a heads-up play that resulted in a touchdown in West Greene football’s regular-season finale against Beth-Center.
After Beth-Center had blocked a late fourth-quarter field-goal attempt, Allison realized the ball hadn’t crossed the line of scrimmage, so he picked it up and ran into the end zone for a touchdown, which gave the Pioneers the lead and the win, 29-22.
“They were celebrating and ran past the ball. I picked it up and ran it in for a touchdown,” Allison said. “We got the lead. Then, they threw a Hail Mary and we intercepted it, kneeled it and won the game.”
Softball: Allison plays baseball for West Greene in the spring and travel ball in the summer, but one of his favorite hobbies is playing in a summer fastpitch softball league in Burgettstown with his dad.
They play for the Slovenian Club.
Last year they won the championship and, yes, Allison had a late impact.
“I had a walk-off hit in the first game of the championship for softball,” he said.
Compiled by Jerin Steele