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By John Miller
It was a game for the ages. Or from the ages. One or the other.
In Wednesday’s Gold Division semifinal nightcap, points were at a premium—to say the least.
Kenny Chambers’ pull-up 18-footer with one second left was just enough to lift unseeded Willard past No. 6-seed Rogersville 32-31 and into the Gold Division championship.
Willard became the first unseeded team to reach a Blue and Gold final since Ava did it in 1995 (and lost 73-53 to West Plains). The Tigers will face No. 4-seed Ozark for the Gold Division championship on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. in JQH Arena.
Willard led 28-27 with five minutes to play and decided to go into stall mode. Point guard Kobe Holloman held the basketball inside half-court, and held it, and then held it some more. After nearly two minutes left the clock, the Tigers ran their offense, missed a contested 3-pointer, and senior forward Houston Johnson snatched the rebound and stuck it in.
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The strategy of holding the ball is something adults often talk about with their kids, reminiscing of days when the “four corners” strategy was more frequently used, but it’s rarely seen in contemporary basketball.
Wednesday’s game brought back memories of those olden days and gave the appearance that time of possession was a more valued stat than points scored.
“It gave us a chance, defensively, to rest,” Willard coach Lamont Frazier said of his team’s strategy. “Sometimes your best defense is your offense.”
Rogersville tied the game up, using a layup by Ryker Strong with 3:18 to play and, later, a free throw from Andrew Scott to knot it at 30-30 with 1:37 left. Willard held the ball again, took a timeout with 14.5 seconds remaining, and drew up a play for Chambers.
“We had figured … everybody would shade Sam (Bird) and everybody would be heavy-help on Houston,” Frazier said. “We designed a play in such that we knew that would take place. Given Kenny’s strengths, we kind of played to that in getting him to a spot where we knew he would have a chance to score.”
Chambers caught the inbounds pass, brought the ball to the center of the floor, snuck inside the 3-point arc, and sunk the go-ahead bucket with one second to play.
“Coach said we were going four low and told me to break down the defender,” said Chambers, who scored a game-high 11 points. “I just created my own shot. Got it done.”
But the game wasn’t over. Rogersville coach Mitch McHenry called a timeout and designed a play that gave his team a prayer. Knowing his team could run the baseline, McHenry aligned Drew Ritter along the baseline and had the in-bounder (Strong) run the baseline, running the defense into Ritter, causing a collision, and ultimately, a foul.
It worked to perfection.
The Willard defender knocked Ritter over, a foul was called, and Ritter got to shoot the one-and-one. He made the first but missed the second, and Willard escaped.
“We survived,” Frazier said.
Rogersville led for most of the night and finished the first half on a 9-1 run to go up 24-15. After halftime, Willard extended its defense into full-court pressure, and Rogersville struggled to adapt. They turned it over five times in the final four minutes of the third, often struggling to get the ball past half-court. Meanwhile, Willard went on a 9-0 run to get back in it.
VIDEO: WILD FINISH SENDS WILLARD TO GOLD TITLE GAME
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That third-quarter comeback put the Tigers in position to win the game in the fourth.
Now, the Tigers, who had lost four straight games entering the tournament, will have a chance to play for the tournament’s Gold Division title on Thursday night.
“It’s nerve-wracking,” admitted Chambers. “It gives you butterflies. Hopefully we can come out and get it done.”
Willard 32, Rogersville 31
Rogersville 11 13 3 4 31
Willard 7 8 11 6 32
Rogersville: Scott 10, Ritter 7, Vandersnick 4, Strong 4, McHenry 3, Von Behren 2, Stiles 1
Willard: Chambers 11, Johnson 10, Jackson 4, Batson 2, Holloman 2, Bird 2, Abreu 1
