Published: Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009 / Updated: Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009 06:08 AM

Class AAAA basketball playoffs

Northwestern's late free throws help it edge Clover

The free throw line has been a dead zone, a frightful place for Northwestern's boys basketball team to be in a tight game.

It was the same story for the Trojans on Tuesday night in their battle with Region 3-AAAA foe Clover, with a spot in Friday night's Upper State championship game at Greenville's BI-LO Center the grand prize.

But just when it looked like Northwestern might get an 0-for from the stripe, the Trojans hit their last three in their 47-42 win over the Blue Eagles.

Northwestern (19-8) will play Gaffney, a 65-55 winner over Hillcrest, for the Upper State championship at 8:30 on Friday night in Greenville. Clover ended its season with a 20-7 record.

The game was still anybody's to win when Labris Adams went to the line for a double-bonus opportunity with 29.1 second left and the Trojans clinging to a 44-42 lead.

Adams missed his first attempt, but hit the second to break an 0-for-10 steak from the stripe. It put the Trojans up by three, which is never a safe lead against the sharp-shooting Blue Eagles.

On the other end, Clover missed on a drive to the hoop. During the scramble for the rebound, the ball was knocked out of bounds by Clover. The inbound pass ended up in Cordarrelle Patterson's hands, and he was immediately fouled.

It appeared to be a good move by Clover. Patterson had been clanking free throws all night, and went to the line for two more chances.

He drained both, pushing Northwestern to a 47-42 lead and the win.

"When Labris made his, I told myself that if I got back I was going to hit mine," Patterson said. "Labris motivated me, and when he made his it was the first one for us all night. I had to make mine for my team and coaches. This was the game we had to win."

Patterson played what was probably his finest game of the season -- and his career since this is his first year playing basketball at any level.

He was the game's top scorer with 16 points -- 10 in the final quarter -- but his overall play kept the fans in the nearly full Trojans gym buzzing.

Northwestern's Adams hit a shot with 7 seconds left in the first half that tied the score, 19-19. Clover passed downcourt to A.J. Williams, who was all alone for a wide-open jumper from the left wing. The ball had barely left his hands when Patterson came running toward him, leaped high into the air and swatted the ball out of bounds just before the buzzer sounded.

The woos that filled the gym could have probably been heard on the other side of Rock Hill if the doors had been open. But there was no lack of effort by the Blue Eagles in the half. They attacked the taller Trojans from every spot on the court on offense. On defense, they used their speed to create 10 Northwestern turnovers.

Led by eight points from Aaron Miller, the Blue Eagles led the entire half until Adams' shot near the end of the second quarter. And at 19-all at the half, it was still anybody's game.

"We had chances, but we didn't take advantage of them," Clover coach Dudley Lybrand said. "I felt we had to score 50 to win and knew we had to make some 3-pointers to beat them. We didn't shoot well, but that's because Northwestern played good defense and had a hand in our face when we shot."

Northwestern got its first lead since 2-0 to start the game early in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Kevin Keene. The score was knotted at 26 when the Trojans made their move.

Adams, Keene and Chris Belton accounted for six straight points and jumped ahead 32-26. They never trailed again.

"They wanted it more than us," Clover senior guard Chris Lindsay said. "It was an intense game. It's a tough way for our seniors to end their careers, but it came down to them beating us on the boards and making second-chance baskets."

But Clover wasn't close to being finished. Northwestern led by nine points in the final quarter on a Patterson basket and it looked like curtains for the Blue Eagles.

Clover fought back and trailed 44-42 on Alexander Wiley's jumper with just over a minute left. But those were the last points for Clover, and Northwestern closed out the scoring with the three free throws by Adams and Patterson.

"Our kids never quit fighting," Northwestern coach Mike Gossett said. "We just beat a very good team that has a lot of offensive weapons. We've gotten better as a team the last few weeks and that's because we work hard at practice.

"We work on our ball handling and free throw shooting every day. That's where we need to get better before we go to Greenville on Friday."

Northwestern: 47

Clover: 42