Of course Northwestern coach Mike Gossett did not call a play for a guard Drayton Wade to miss a shot with 14.8 seconds remaining Tuesday with the Trojans trailing Fort Mill 52-51.
But just in case the attempt missed, Gossett had his team well prepared for Plan B.
"What we wanted was to penetrate in the lane," for the shot attempt, he said. "But if the shot was off, we then said for (forward) Chris (Belton) to go up strong on the glass."
Belton came through with the offensive rebound, and then outmuscled two Fort Mill defenders to convert the putback attempt while being fouled with 5.1 seconds remaining.
But following Belton's heroic basket, Fort Mill still had a chance at victory. After grabbing Belton's free-throw miss, Yellow Jackets forward Dwayne Grainger rushed the ball upcourt.
With the clock racing toward zero, Grainger rushed in for the layup, but the ball bounced off the rim for the 53-52 Trojans victory.
"When you play a one-point game, I can look back and point out about 50 situations where we gave up one point," Fort Mill coach Bailey Jackson said, not blaming his team's defeat on Grainger's miss at the buzzer.
"I am extremely proud of our team's effort, especially with us starting four sophomores and having only two seniors. But throughout the game, we had trouble keeping them off the glass. That is one of their strong points and, eventually, that is what won it for them."
The last-minute drama followed a seesaw contest which saw both teams display solid defense.
Fort Mill led 27-22 at the half, but Northwestern used solid interior play of Belton and Cordarrelle Patterson to seize a 34-32 lead with 1:53 remaining in the third.
The Yellow Jackets did pull even at 34 heading into the fourth quarter. However, the Trojans continued to use interior dominance with solid play of Belton and Patterson to gain a 44-39 lead with 3:56 remaining.
Fort Mill forward Andrew McCartney sank two foul shots to cut the deficit to 44-41.
The Northwestern edge remained at 46-43, but Trojan reserve forward Shawn Ferguson scored on the inside and netted a free throw after being fouled for a 49-43 lead with 1:27 remaining.
Fort Mill guard Rion Heriot scored a quick basket, cutting the deficit to four, but Labris Adams sank one of two foul shots for the 50-45 Trojans lead.
The Yellow Jackets defense began to create havoc on the Trojans, who turned the ball over twice in as many possessions.
Fort Mill forward Rashawn Dupree was fouled while converting a layup. He sank the free throw to cut the deficit to 50-48. After another Trojans turnover, the Yellow Jackets got the ball to Heriot. whose layin tied the score at 50 with 43.7 seconds remaining.
After both teams turned the ball over on their respective possessions, Northwestern took a one-point edge when Brandon Williams sank a free throw.
Fort Mill committed another turnover, but then got a steal from forward Andrew Parra. He found Grainger for the layup and a 52-51 Yellow Jackets lead with 24 seconds remaining.
The Yellow Jackets then forced another Trojans turnover, but Fort Mill threw away possession on the inbound pass, setting up Northwestern with the game-winning strategy with 14.8 remaining.
Belton, who finished with a game-high 18 points, described his determination to grab the rebound.
"What I was thinking was that I could not let them box me out," he said. "So when the ball bounced out, I got good position. I then went up and felt the foul and was able to make the shot."
Northwestern improves to 12-5 overall and 4-1 in league play. Fort Mill drops to 11-7 and 2-3, respectively.
