The Woodlands Eagles beat the buzzer in the most exciting finish of the high school basketball season so far.
The Eagles inbounded the ball with one second left and Zack Williams hit a three-pointer as the home team beat the Ladysmith 49ers by a 56-53 score Tuesday night at the Woodlands Secondary School gym.
The game was 42-42 going into the fourth quarter and remained tight all the way. The 49ers tried to call timeout on their final possession, but there are no timeouts during play and the visitors weren’t able to get a good look at the basket.
Woodlands took a timeout with one second on the clock and sketched out a play.
“It looked like someone else was getting the ball, so he got all the activity and no one had their eye on me and I was able to get an open shot,” said Williams.
He led his team with 29 points and Jakob Brown had nine. Nick Hayton led the 49ers with 29.
The Eagles will be able to build on the experience of playing and winning in crunch time in the fourth quarter.
“We just needed to keep our cool, make sure we don’t turn over the ball and make sure we play as well as we can,” Williams said. “We just had to know that the game was on the line and we could win it.”
Brown said the victory would build team chemistry and confidence.
“Now we’re working at building leads and keeping a cushion, so we don’t have to bring it down to the wire,” he said. “Although it is an exhilarating feeling.”
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