Bieber's 3 at the buzzer lifts Hampshire over Burlington

Maybe the stakes have been higher in some past games, but this was still Hampshire-Burlington Central, and the game lived up to that legacy.

Justin Bieber's 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the Whip-Purs a 48-47 boys basketball victory in Big Northern East action on Rocket Hill Friday night.

Hampshire trailed by as many as 10 points, and trailed 45-38 with just over 3 minutes to go.

With Hampshire down 2, Bieber missed the first of 2 free throws with 4 seconds left. Hampshire coach Bob Barnett inserted 6-foot-8 Sirwan Khan and, when Bieber purposely missed the second shot, Khan grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 3.2 seconds left.

On the inbounds play, Bieber was open from the corner and swished a shot as time expired.

"It's Burlington, our rivals, a last-second play, that's probably my favorite shot of all-time," said Bieber.

Shyler Ralphs led Hampshire with 16 points. Bieber finished with 13, including 3 second-half 3-pointers. Brock Ralphs had 7 points and 7 rebounds, and Ryan Burke added 6 points and 6 rebounds for the Whip-Purs (15-9, 6-3).

Sam Klein scored 16 points and Ray Hunnicutt added 10 for the Rockets. Shane Larkin added 8.

The Rockets (11-13, 6-3) led throughout the first half largely because Hampshire couldn't solve their trapping pressure. They forced 13 first-half turnovers that they frequently converted into fastbreak points.

After the break, the Whips were able to break the pressure and committed just 2 turnovers.

"That's what we discussed at halftime," Barnett said. "We had 13 (turnovers) at halftime, and I think we gave up 7 offensive boards. That's 20 touches that they got in the first half alone and we were only down by 8 (29-21). I think we only gave up 2 turnovers and 3 offensive boards (in the second half). So you only give them 5 extra touches instead of 20, and that's what it came down to."

Rockets' coach Brett Porto couldn't fault his team's effort, but was obviously disappointed with how the game's final seconds played out.

With fouls to give, the Rockets were trying to use them to disrupt Hampshire's rhythm as the Whips brought the ball down on their final possession. But no foul was called until Bieber was in the act of shooting. He also thought Khan should have been called for a foul on the crucial rebound.

But he also realized that the Rockets let some chances slip away, particularly by going 2-for-9 from the free-throw line.

"It's tough when you're looking in the locker room at a bunch of kids that are on the verge of tears or in tears losing a heartbreaker like that," Porto said. "All that being said, we still had opportunities from the line, and a couple of offensive possessions where we didn't execute."