Northwestern’s best player had the ball, needing to score. Here’s what happened
The Spartanburg Vikings closed on a 16-4 run to erase a ten-point deficit, and Luke Gilsdorf drove for the game-winning shot with about 20 seconds left to lift the visitors to a 60-58 second round 5A playoff win over the Northwestern Trojans Saturday night.
The teams had split two earlier meetings this season. The Trojans excellent season ended with a 21-6 record.
“I just thanked our seniors,” Northwestern coach John Bramlett said. “We have seven seniors that built a very good foundation. This was my first group. When I took over they were freshmen. So I just let them know how much we love them. This is a great group of young men.”
Northwestern led 54-44 halfway through the final period before the Vikings ran off 12 unanswered points in a hurry to take a 56-54 lead with two minutes left. Spartanburg hit three 3-pointers in that stretch, with Sean Jenkins starting it with two back-to-back connections. He had four for the game and led all scorers with 27 points. He also scored those last two points of the spurt to give the Vikings the lead. Jenkins had 13 in the fourth quarter.
“No. 10 (Jenkins) hit two big threes with a hand in his face,” Bramlett said. “So give credit to him.”
Zay Foster’s three tied the game at 54 with 2:40 left. He joined Jenkins in double figures with 11 points. Zay Martin, who led the Trojans with 20 points and had four huge free throws in the last minute to tie the game at 58, had a good look at a 3 at the end but it was long and Jenkins threw the ball high in the air to the other end of the court as the clock ran out and the Vikings celebrated.
“We still had a chance to win at the end,” Bramlett said. “We had our best player with the ball and a good open look. It was a great season for Northwestern.”
There was no second-guessing the decision not to call timeout after Gilsdorf’s shot.
“I don’t want the other coach to have time to set up something to take him (Zay Martin) away,” Bramlett said. “He knows he’s supposed to come get the ball and he did.”
Spartanburg will play two-time defending state champ and rival Dorman Tuesday. The Cavaliers are ranked No. 1 and have beaten the Vikings twice this year.
Northwestern started the game with a 14-1 run, led by eight points from Martin. After a timeout at the 4:20 mark of the first period, the Vikings answered by closing the period with a 17-1 run of their own, with Jenkins tossing in nine points. Northwestern used a 10-2 run in the second period, punctuated by back-to-back three-pointers from AJ Thompson, to retake the lead. The Trojans got a steal and then a Ger-Cari Caldwell dunk at the first half buzzer to lead 30-26. The home squad pushed their lead to 47-37 entering the fourth period.