Mustangs eliminated on buzzer-beater by Portsmouth

WAVERLY — On the final possession of the game, the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs did all they could to disrupt a final shot attempt by the Portsmouth Trojans, but all their effort wasn't enough.

The final shot off the fingertips of Portsmouth junior Sky Oliver, on a fadeaway, off-balanced jumper straight through the hoop, sent the Mustangs out of the postseason in the Division III SE District Sectional Finals by a 55-53 score Saturday evening at Waverly High School.

The shot by Oliver came following a timeout by the Trojans as they set up their final offensive opportunity as the score was tied at 53-53 following a layup by LC senior Gage Waits.

Oliver, who finished with 18 points, took possession of the ball and eventually saw the shot he had to take with time expiring, let go of the ball with a hand in his face by the LC defense, and following a swish of the hoop, the Mustangs saw their postseason come to a close.

"Portsmouth is an athletic basketball team," LC head coach Matt Carson said. "Sometimes it is easy to say 'stop them from doing this or that.' There haven't been a lot of people who have been able to stop them from doing stuff this year.

"We finally put together a solid last quarter … credit Oliver for making the shot with a hand in his face. It was a good shot, and you have to tip your hat where credit is due."

As for Waits, who tied the score, he stepped up the entire game by fighting to the hoop inside the paint, making crucial and timely free throws and taking the ball up the court in the most scrutinized position on the court as the LC point guard. Waits did all of that while playing with two fouls before the end of the first quarter.

Waits led LC in scoring with a game-high 26 points, including 15 points in the fourth quarter. The LC senior was 7-of-7 from the free-throw line, and he made one 3-pointer, which came in the first quarter.

In the second half, Waits scored 21 of the 31 Mustangs points.

"Anytime we've needed someone to step up with defense, offense or anything in between, Gage has stepped up," Carson said. "I'm really proud of his effort … he's just a great kid.

"He put us on his back in the fourth quarter."

The Mustangs (17-6) trailed 44-34 entering the final frame, but Waits quickly got the deficit down to eight points with a layup to open the scoring of the fourth.

Following a free throw by the Trojans, Waits made four consecutive free throws on two trips to the charity stripe.

With 4:23 left in the fourth, Ryan Inman scored two points for LC to bring LC to within four points of tying the score at 46-42, and following a travel on the Trojans, Waits, again, was able to chop Portsmouth's lead to two points with 3:46 left in regulation with fans on both sides of the stands on their feet.

The Trojans (17-3) built their lead back to four points with two free-throw conversions, but again, the Mustangs wouldn't quit with Devin Pierson sinking two free throws with 2:40 left on the quarter for a 48-46 score. Pierson was held to eight points in the game.

Oliver sank a 3-pointer with 2:28 on the clock to move the Trojans' lead back to five points.

Like a broken record, Waits continued to repeat his successful scoring performances, this time with points in the paint. Later, with LC trailing by four points, Waits not only scored points with a layup, he turned it into a three-point play by sinking a free throw to make it a two-point deficit for LC at 53-51.

The Mustangs, who won a sectional title last season, tied the score with the aforementioned layup with 8.3 seconds by Waits, with the senior maneuvering around Trojan defenders in the paint.

In the first half, LC trailed 17-10 after the first quarter and 27-22 at the half.

For the first-half scoring by the Mustangs, Waits, Inman, Pierson (a 3-pointer) and Josh Ahrmann combined for 10 points in the quarter. In the second, it was those four, plus Christian Inman combining for 12 points.

Ryan Inman finished the game with 11 points, with Ahrmann totaling six.

LC also scored 12 points in the third with Waits netting six, Ryan Inman with four and Ahrmann with two.

LC finished 10-of-14 from the free-throw line. The Trojans were 12-of-18 with their free throw shooting. Kyre Allison of the Trojans also finished with 18 points, tied with Oliver.

"We came up two points short (Saturday), but that is life," Carson said. "Sometimes you are going to come up short, and sometimes you are going to win big. I couldn't be more proud of their effort and the effort of the seniors to establish to program where we want to get it.

"God willing, there is a lot of good future for this basketball program."

As for the LC seniors, this was their final postseason game, but they still have one regular-season game left as they will make up an Southern Hills Athletic Conference game at Eastern Brown on Tuesday.

Carson spoke about his senior class, consisting of Gage Waits, Ryan Inman, Marc Blankenship, Chaz Lanier and Colt Dunseith.

"I applaud the seniors," Carson said. "I want to congratulate all five seniors for everything they've done for the program. They are all five really good kids, and you feel for them, because you want to get them that trip to Athens.

"We talked a lot about it. A lot of people don't realize this is the second basketball game we've lost since January. You know, it has to end sometime, and we wanted it to end in Athens, maybe Columbus, but it ended here (Saturday). It was just a great basketball game and a great atmosphere, and I'm going to remember this for the rest of my life."