OKLAHOMA CITY — When the red light lit up the backboard, Kellen Hines, Robert Johnson and the rest of Fort Cobb-Broxton’s starting five leapt towards half court and threw up their arms while facing the Mustang faithful.
Sweet euphoria of survival.
“It was crazy,” said Ft. Cobb senior Robert Johnson, who had seven points, seven rebounds and six blocks. “It felt like we won it all right there, but we have one left. We’ve got a lot to prove tomorrow — that we still got it from last year.”
After holding off archrival and Caddo County nemesis Cyril, 50-49, in a Class A State tournament semifinal Friday evening at The Big House, dreams of a fourth straight state championship are very much alive for second-seeded Ft. Cobb, which meets Frontier tonight at 7:15 p.m. at the Fairgrounds.
“That was one of the best games I’ve ever been a part of,” Ft. Cobb coach Scott Hines said. “For Class A, that was high-level basketball.”
To emerge victorious in yet another instant classic between the two rivals, Ft. Cobb (28-3) needed one final defensive stop, which it collected with smothering, yet sound, team-oriented defense.
Off a missed 3-pointer, third-seeded Cyril (24-5) corralled an offensive rebound and had one final chance to beat Ft. Cobb for the first time this season in three tries.
Cason McLemore, who was sensational down the stretch and led the Pirates with 19 points, turned the corner at the top of the key with Cyril trailing 50-49.
While spinning his way to the free throw line to launch the potential game-winner, the ball slipped out of his hands in front of three Mustang defenders as Ft. Cobb’s favorite red light flashed.
“We just tried to keep McLemore from getting in the middle so he didn’t have an easy shot,” Johnson said. “Luckily he lost it when we trapped him.”
“They knew the ball was probably going to Cason,” his dad, Cyril coach Shane McLemore said. “We didn’t screen the right person, but they were scrambling on defense, too. It just became a physical scramble at the end.”
Where there is agony on one end, you can always find relief on the other.
“I don’t think I breathed through the whole sequence,” Hines said. “Holding my breath and hoping something good happens. Seeing that ball bounce off the rim and that buzzer go off, there’s nothing like that.”
McLemore halted the Mustangs’ 19-2 second half spurt and gave the Pirates new life by going on a 8-0 run by his lonesome late in the fourth quarter.
The junior guard’s 3-pointer went in and out and back in to cut it to four, 48-44. After Eastwood threw the ball away, McLemore swished another 3-ball at the top of the key.
“I thought we had Cason guarded several times, but he just stepped out even farther,” Hines said. “He hit some big ones down the stretch. He’s a great player and there were a lot of good players on the floor tonight.”
Dayken Rackley blocked a teardrop attempt in the lane creating a run out as McLemore broke loose for a layup to give Cyril a 49-48 lead with a minute left.
“Everybody else was playing well, but doing what I thought I could do, I had to do what was best for my team and get us back in it,” Cason McLemore said.
Kesston Mowdy, who led Ft. Cobb with 13 points, was the one who stopped the meltdown as he kissed the eventual game-winner off the glass in traffic to put the Mustangs up 50-49 before the final possession.
“I was trying to draw contact, but luckily it went in,” Mowdy said. “I just wanted to step up so the guys can be themselves. This is bigger than me, though.”
Hines, who called Mowdy a ‘true gym rat’ as nobody spends more time in the gym, was in shock he got the circus shot in traffic to fall.
“I have no idea. Kesston was turned this way and flipped all the way around,” Hines said. “I’ve been on him his whole career about taking crazy shots, dipsy-doos and all that. But he deserves that moment because he’s worked and earned it with hours and hours in the gym.”
Cyril, which held a 31-29 halftime lead, shot 60 percent from 3-point range in the first half but mustered only 25 percent (4 of 16) in the second half.
Rackley, who scored 11 points, accounted for all eight of Cyril’s points in the third quarter. Rackley got going with an offensive putback, then buried a pair of 3-pointers at the top of the key, sandwiched between his steal to give the Pirates a 39-29 cushion.
The only problem with Rackley’s production? It all came in the first two minutes of the third.
Ft. Cobb, which had closed the quarterfinal win over Glencoe with 16 unanswered points, called a timeout before mounting an eerily similar response.
Tyson Eastwood, who scored 10 points, started the rally cry with his and-1 bucket to make it 39-34. Johnson then made a runner in the paint over the towering 6-7 Rackley.
“I thought Robert Johnson was the difference of the game,” Hines said. “He was huge defensively and blocking shots.”
Johnson collapsed on Rackley underneath the ensuing possession, grabbed a steal and Kellen Hines, who also had 10 points along with Luke Lewis, kissed a runner off the glass on the run out.
Eastwood snagged a steal of his own and turned it into a layup which put Ft. Cobb in front 40-39.
It was part of 15 unanswered points in the second half as the Mustangs went on a 19-2 run to claim a 48-41 lead with 2:30 remaining.
For the second straight day, the three-time defending champion Mustangs — buoyed by their championship experience — needed a second half rally cry to keep their hopes of a four-peat alive.
“When we got down 10, we could’ve folded or panicked,” Hines said. “That could’ve gone really badly, but the guys stuck together and kept making plays and tightened up on defense. I’m really proud of them.”
Several hot hands were on display in the opening quarter as Cyril — with two triples from Albert Suarez (8 points) and three more from McLemore — went 5 of 6 from beyond the arc while Ft. Cobb went 3 of 4 from deep, courtesy of a pair from Mowdy.
Cyril led 20-19 after an upbeat first quarter and proceeded to play stall ball for the first two minutes of the second with a three point lead.
Stall ball didn’t last too long, but it signaled the start of a chess match and another thriller.
“It’s the first time for our boys playing in the Big House,” coach McLemore said. “Ft. Cobb is used to being here so I knew it was gonna be tough. I told them, ‘This is an experience you’ll learn from and get used to playing in a big gym like this playing in front of tons of fans.’”
Both Cyril teams are hoping to reach the final stage next year with plenty of talent returning.
“I’m proud of both my girls and boys. They both fought hard,” coach McLemore said. Cyril’s girls lost to Okarche in the quarterfinals on Thursday. “The boys were good enough to win the whole thing, but things have to go just right — gotta get a few calls and hit shots at the right time. It just fell Fort Cobb’s way tonight. That’s two good teams going at each other.”
FORT COBB-BROXTON 50, CYRIL 49 Boys
CYRIL — Cason McLemore 7-0-19, Dayken Rackley 4-1-11, Suarez 3-0-8, Kaesemeyer 2-0-5, Toahty 2-0-4, Rivera 0-2-2. Totals 18-3-49.
FORT COBB BROXTON — Kesston Mowdy 4-2-13, Tyson Eastwood 4-1-10, Kellen Hines 4-2-10, Luke Lewis 5-0-10, Johnson 3-0-7. Totals 20-5-50.
Cyril 20 11 8 10—49
Ft. Cobb 19 10 11 10—50
3-point goals: Cyril — McLemore 5, Suarez 2, Rackley 2, Kaesemeyer. Ft. Cobb — Mowdy 3, Johnson, Eastwood.