Worth County's boys built up an 11-point lead early in the second half, only to watch it dwindle away to nothing. But finally, Zach Harmening hit a last-second shot at the buzzer to give the Tigers their fifth GRC win this year, a 51-49 nailbiter over Polo and salvage a win at Courtwarming.
Bryce Ross, who had been carrying the Tigers during their recent run, sprained his ankle the day before during practice and did not suit up; that meant that the Tigers had to find someone to take his place in the scoring column. It initially looked like he would not be missed; however, as the second half progressed and shot after shot from the Tigers fruitlessly clanked off the rim, it became obvious that they will have to find someone to replace Ross' baseline jumper if they are to continue their form.
There were six lead changes in the first three minutes of the game until J.J. Mullock had a monster stuff which seemed to give the Tigers life and Eli Mullock followed with an inside shot off a feed from Alex Harmening that gave Worth County a 6-5 lead. Dalton Rardon countered with a floater in the lane, but then Dylan Kinsella scored off a fast break after Zach Harmening went coast to coast to spark a 10-0 run that left Worth County in control. Eli Mullock drove down the left baseline, Garrett Hawk scored inside off a pass from Eli, Kinsella connected from inside again, and Zach Harmening scored off a steal and drive to cap the run at 16-7.
Polo checked in Dillon Hufford, a 6'4" ballhandler, whose driving layup seemed to spark the Panthers and stop the run. Dalton Mills' free throw capped a 7-2 Polo run that brought them to within 18-14 at the start of the second quarter. Zach Harmening then cut backdoor to stop the run and put Worth County back up by six; a putback by Kinsella and a steal and drive from Harmening that turned into a 3-point play kept the game between 5 and 8 points.
Dylan Kinsella took a charge at the 3:03 mark that helped left Worth County to an 11 point lead early in the third quarter. Zach Harmening and Wyatt McClain also took charges during the span; Todd Harding got a drive to the basket, Garrett Hawk got a backdoor layup off a feed from Harding, and Dylan Kinsella scored after Todd Harding tipped a pass. Zach Harmening found a cutting Eli Mullock at the start of the second half for a backdoor layup which gave the Tigers their largest lead of the night at 33-22.
But then they failed to convert on some easy shots in the third quarter and Polo turned the game into a track meet as they were able to climb back. Toby Poje's drive and buckets from Dalton Mills cut it back to 33-29. Alex Harmening's fast break and Eli Mullock's feed of J.J. inside made it 37-31, but a pair of buckets from Ashton Shelton and a putback from Poje tied the game at 37 before Garrett Hawk found Dylan Kinsella inside with five seconds left to make it 39-37.
Polo tied it again at 39 before J.J. Mullock scored from inside to make it 41-39. Zach Freeman hit a free throw to close to within 41-40 and Polo had two chances to take the lead, but J.J. rejected a shot and Dalton Mills collided with Zach Harmening and traveled with the basketball. Eli Mullock lobbed inside to J.J. to make it 43-40. Ashton Shelton countered with a pair of free throws, but Zach Harmening scored off a drive, Dalton Rardon missed a runner, and Harmening found J.J. in transition to make it 47-42.
But then the game began to be more frantic as the final minutes ticked down. Dalton Mills hit a free throw and then Dalton Rardon and Toby Poje scored off drives to tie it at 47 at the 2:55 mark as Worth County could not burn precious time off thanks to a pair of dropped passes. Finally, Zach Harmening cut backdoor at the 2:21 mark to put Worth County back up 49-47. But then Garrett Hawk missed a layup following a stop on defense to give Polo new life. They threw a long pass down the court on the ensuing rebound, which was tipped around before Dylan Kinsella was called for a foul. Dalton Mills missed both free throws, but Ashton Shelton got the ensuing carom. But Dalton Rardon missed the ensuing drive attempt and Worth County had the ball with a chance to run the clock.
But then Todd Harding was called for offensive charging and Polo took advantage to tie it again as Ashton Shelton scored from inside to make it 49-49 with 1:09 left. Harding drove the lane with 32 seconds left and threw up a floater, but missed and Polo got the defensive board with a chance to win in regulation. But then Harding atoned for his previous mistakes with a pair of huge plays as he stripped a Polo player with 22 seconds left to give Worth County the ball back. Worth County got the ball into halfcourt and called timeout with 10.8 seconds left.
The Panthers had a pair of fouls to give and they used them to stop Worth County from getting into the lane and force them to inbound the ball from the left sideline with 2.1 seconds left. However, sometimes, the most dangerous player on inbounds situations is the inbounder and Polo fell asleep at the switch. Zach Harmening inbounded the ball to Todd Harding just to the left of the top of the key and then cut backdoor to the basket. Harding threw a strike to Harmening, whose shot at the buzzer was ruled good by the officials. Subsequent replays showed that the ball was still in Harmening's hands as the buzzer sounded, but there are no replays in High School Basketball in these situations -- the only time replays are permitted in these situations are during state championship series contests. In regular high school contests, it is the judgment of the officials which matters, meaning that Harmening's shot counted.
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