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By Amanda Perkins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Licking and Class 3 No. 1 and undefeated Mountain Grove battled all night. Licking led by three points late, but Mountain Grove’s Conner McNew knocked down a game-tying three-pointer with just three seconds left and the game appeared to be heading to overtime.
And then, it wasn’t.
With a tied game and just three seconds on the clock, junior G. T. Nicholson caught a deep pass, took three dribbles to the basket, and tossed up the game winner to give Licking a 64-62 win over Mountain Grove.
“It’s one of those plays we practice two or three times a week for nine years and you use it a handful of times, ever,” said Licking Coach Ben Glasgow. “We stressed that three seconds is a long time, so don’t panic…and then [Nicholson] almost made me panic. He took it down to the wire but he made a very tough shot.”
SEE VIDEO OF THE FINAL PLAY ABOVE
The teams last met in the spring for the district title game, and Mountain Grove advanced from there to the state tournament. This game was slated as one not to miss, with Mountain Grove currently ranked first in class 3 and Licking most recently as ninth; it did not disappoint.
The Panthers opened the game with their signature quick tempo and tough defensive style and led by seven after one quarter. Licking chipped at the early lead and led by three points by the half, tying the score several times, and ultimately maintaining the three point deficit to close the third.
“We were trying to be patient because they can play really fast and score in the 80’s and 90’s and we didn’t want that, so we were trying to take out time offensively,” said Coach Glasgow. “We got to a point where we were giving up a little too much on the other end by not being physical enough, so we had to make some adjustments and try to get the ball inside a little bit.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
But Licking exploded on the scene in the fourth, and in the final three minutes held an eight point lead. Mountain Grove turned up the pressure, forcing turnovers and creating plays, and cut the lead to three.
That’s when Conner McNew connected from downtown to tie the game at 62 all. With three seconds on the clock, the Mountain Grove Panthers appeared ready to stake their claim over Licking in overtime, until their plans were suddenly foiled.
“Mountain Grove is a good team and they win a lot of games by a lot, and they win a lot of close games, too, and you see why,” said Coach Glasgow. “I’m not knocking any of our opponents, but we haven’t had that real big win and we’ve played a couple of really good teams and we’ve lost to them, so we needed to beat someone really good. Our January schedule is tough, and we needed to prove we could not only compete but win one. We kept our heads and played well.”
Licking is now 12-3 on the season and Mountain Grove drops to 14-1.
Scoring for Mtn. Grove: Carter Otwell, 20, Conner McNew, 12, Cade Coffman, 16, Dawson Hiler, 7, Hayden Newberry, 4, Bryce Lauderdale, 2, John Felker, 1
Scoring for Licking: Michael Milhizer, 17, G.T. Nicholson, 15, James Swan, 12, Kaden Quick, 11, Wilson Murray, 4, Conner Medlock, 2.
