(Timon's Juston Johnson drives on Park's Brandon Smith)
Following Friday night's game between Timon & Park, I was approached as the floor cleared and asked how the game wasn't selected as the 'Game of the Week'. In hindsight, that would be an easy call. The action in South Buffalo was so thrilling on Friday night, the game may be in contention for an even greater title - 'Game of the Year'.
Timon used a regulation buzzer-beater to set up an overtime buzzer-beater, winning a sensational game over #1 ranked Park, 59-58. The victory knocks the Pioneers from first place in the Monsignor Martin Association and pulls the Tigers even with them in the league standings.
"The game's not over until the clock is all zeros," Timon coach Des Randall said. "It was about staying composed."
The Tigers had multiple opportunities to show their composure and looked cooler by the minute over the game's final ten. With six minutes remaining in regulation, Park extended a nine-point lead, 44-35, when Joe Jones swished a long shot from the baseline. Timon dug out of the hole by dialing up its defense and held the Pioneers scoreless over the next four minutes, slowly chipping away at the deficit.
"Defensively was where we knew we had to win it at and it started with slowing them down," Randall said.
Zone defense had slowed high-scoring Park throughout and was never better than when facing its largest deficit of the game. Timon scored the next eight points of the game during the Pioneer's drought with sharp execution on offense, to pull within a point, 44-43, on a bucket by Master Radford. A 3-pointer by Marques Lowe finally gave Park some offense and pushed its lead back to 47-43. Davion Warren came right back to bring the Tigers back within a possession, before Juston Johnson found 'Big Shot' Joe Harrison at the top of the key to bring the Tigers all the way back and give them a 48-47 lead with a trey from straight away.
"Park is a great ball pressure team and you have to be able to handle that to stay in the game," Randall said. "We talked about being patient, staying composed, and making them guard us in the half court set, no matter how long it took...it takes a lot to pressure the whole game."
Dan Scott tied the game for Park at 48-48 from the stripe with 52 seconds left. After regaining possession, the Pioneers went for the win to Scott. After setting a screen for Noah Hutchins, Scott rolled behind the three-point arc, took a pass from Hutchins, and buried a trey with just three seconds left to put Park up 51-48.
It sure looked like the dagger when it went in. But not to Randall, who called timeout and had a message for his squad.
"First thing I said was we're going to win, we're good, stay composed."
After setting up a great play to get the ball over half court and only burning just over a second of game clock, Timon called another timeout to draw something up for 'Big Shot Joe'. With 2.5 seconds on the clock and the ball being inbounded in front of the Timon bench, Johnson flashed first and then Harrison popped up looking for the ball. The pass went in to Harrison just inside half court and he made it look effortless & easy, draining a '3' as the buzzer rang to force overtime.
"We were good at executing sets all night and we executed that one too," Randall said. "We didn't want him shooting from two steps over half court...but with him, if he gets his feet set, he can hit from anywhere. Lucky for me, they practice those shots everyday after practice...the Steph Curry effect."
As if the auditorium at Timon wasn't already electric enough on a Friday night, the extra session set off explosions with seven lead changes, including five over the final 90 seconds:
1:30 - Joe Harrison hits two free throws, Timon leads 55-54
:58 - Brandon Smith takes a pass from Joe Jones and scores inside, Park leads 56-55
:54 - Juston Johnson is fouled in the back court and hits both tosses from the stripe, Timon leads 57-56
:34 - Joe Jones converts a pass from Brandon Smith for two in the lane, Park leads 58-57
The final lead change game in the most dramatic fashion. Harrison dribble down some clock and attempted to take his defender off the dribble and finish with a floater, but it was blocked by Smith. Adrian Baugh grabbed the ball and passed back to Harrison, but it slipped through his hands. However, Warren happened to be right there at the top of the key and grabbed the errant pass. With the seconds ticking down, he was forced to make a move. Blowing past a first defender and into the waiting arms of another in the paint, Warren finished a hanging drive as the game ended.
Fans spilled onto the floor and swarmed the jubilant Tigers in celebration, which was fitting considering not only the magnitude of the win, but also the comeback fashion finished off with two dramatic buzzer-beaters. Also fitting were they players who made the big shots. After combining for just 10 first half points, Warren & Harrison stepped up to deliver big second half performances and fantastic finishes.
"We got Davion and Joe some good looks and they started to figure out how to finish, which builds confidence," Randall said.
Warren finished with a game-high 22 points, while Harrison scored 16 points. Radford had eight points for the Tigers and Johnson chipped in six points.
Park was led by Scott's 17 points, while Jones added 16 points in the game.
"We didn't get the ball inside enough, which is our strength and we need to play quicker offensively," Park coach Michael Battaglia said.
Timon hosts St. Joe's on Tuesday night, while Park welcomes in Canisius.
Park 13 - 12 - 14 - 12 - 7 = 58
Timon 9 - 9 - 15 - 18 - 8 = 59
Point Totals
Timon: Davion Warren 22, Joe Harrison 16, Master Radford 8, Juston Johnson 6, Jaurney Boyland 2, Adrian Baugh 2, Tim Payne 2
Park: Dan Scott 17, Joe Jones 16, Noah Hutchins 7, Marques Lowe 6, Brandon Smith 2, Jaylen Stewart 2, Quentin Nnagbo 2, Julian Eziukwu 2
- centercourt
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