Batavia stuns King with 3-pointer at buzzer
Yes and yes.
Those are the answers to the two questions everyone had to an instant classic ending Wednesday night between Batavia and King at the Bulldogs' 34th annual Ken Peddy Windmill City Classic.
Yes, Adam LeTourneau did launch his 3-pointer just before the buzzer sounded. And yes he did call glass.
The stunning finish gave Batavia a 49-46 win in its season opener after the Bulldogs executed their final play perfectly, taking the ball the length of the court in 3.7 seconds to set up LeTourneau's 3 and a wild celebration.
"I was counting down in my head so I kind of short-armed it so I could get it off in time," LeTourneau said. "I feel like I got it off in time."
So did the officials, who didn't hesitate in calling it good. King coach Jerry A. Reynolds protested briefly that the clock didn't start on time but afterward said he agreed LeTourneau let the shot go before the horn.
"We put ourselves in that situation," Reynolds said. "We missed a lot of free throws and layups."
King (0-1) led most of the second half, the largest coming at 31-22 midway through the third quarter.
Batavia (1-0) caught King at 32-32 on Sam Shump's 3-pointer and layup to end the third quarter. The Bulldogs took their first lead of the second half on Ricky Clopton's 2 free throws with 3:25 left.
Clopton scored again for a 44-40 lead and it looked like the Bulldogs were on their way to a nice comeback win until King blitzed off 6 points in 32 seconds. First Reggie Ruffin rebounded a missed free throw and scored, then back-to-back steals led to layups and a 46-44 King lead with 1:18 remaining.
Sophomore Cole Gardner drained two free throws to tie the game, and King held for the last shot. Ruffin drove and fell down, with the traveling call giving the ball back to Batavia with 3.7 seconds left.
Bulldogs coach Jim Roberts called timeout and set up a play the Bulldogs have been working on each day at the end of practice. Clopton inbounded to Jesse Coffey, who was trapped in the corner but got the ball to a streaking Shump in the middle of the court.
From about half-court, Shump threw cross-court to a wide open LeTourneau, who let his game-winner fly from about 21 feet away on the left wing.
"I did call it (bank)," LeTourneau smiled. "Coach told me to call it louder next time.
"It was a great pass by Sam Shump. After the game I asked him if he heard me calling for the ball and he said, 'No, I just knew you were going to be there.' It was just great teamwork."
Clopton led all scorers with 16 points. Shump gave Batavia a huge spark off the bench with 9 points. LeTourneau battled foul trouble to score 8, Levi Maxey had 7 and 3 blocked shots, Elliot Vaughn grabbed a game-high 7 rebounds and Gardner added 6 points and 4 boards.
"I'm speechless," Clopton said. "I'm so excited and happy for Adam, happy for Sam.
A great way to start the season.
"That was just what we wanted to do when we had King come, we knew they were going to be tough and fast and physical. We just stuck it to them and it just shows great signs for our team."
"When a shot goes in like that it all looks great but even if it didn't go in I was proud of the way the kids executed down the stretch," Roberts said.