Improbable comeback leads Hornets past Eagles

In what was arguably one of the best games and undoubtedly the most remarkable finish in Gatesville basketball history, the Hornets erased a nine-point deficit over a 38-second stretch in the final minute of the fourth quarter to defeat Salado 95-84 in overtime on Tuesday.

West Allman buried a three-pointer from the top of the key with 10 seconds left to tie the game at 76-76 and the Hornets survived a potential game winner from Salado’s Noah Self to force overtime. In the extra period, Gatesville (22-4, 1-1) outscored the Eagles by a 19-8 margin to secure the Hornets’ first district win.

The Eagles (8-18, 1-1) led 76-67 with exactly one minute to play after Salado’s Darius Wilson made the first of his two free throw attempts. He missed the second, giving Gatesville the ball and beginning the process of the most unlikely of finishes.

Below is a play-by-play of the furious final minute:

• Banner Allman converts a driving layup and is fouled with 48 seconds left. He misses the free throw attempt. Salado leads 76-69.
• West Allman steals the ensuing inbound pass and lays it in with 42 seconds left. Salado leads 76-71.
• Following a Gatesville timeout, Kase Cox picks up a steal and passes to West Allman. Allman tries to hit a cutting Rayshon Smith but Salado knocks the ball out of bounds and Gatesville retains possession with 32 seconds left trailing 76-71.
• Banner Allman scores on another driving layup with 29 seconds left. Salado leads 76-73.
• Salado calls timeout with 22 seconds left to avoid a backcourt violation.
• After the timeout, Salado mishandles the inbound pass and the ball goes out of bounds and back to the Hornets.
• West Allman tries to hit Banner Allman at the top of the key but the ball is knocked out of bounds by the Eagles. The Hornets retain possession trailing 76-73 with 18 seconds left.
• West Allman takes the inbound pass from Smith, takes two dribbles to his right, slips to a knee, regains his footing, and hits a three-pointer with 10 seconds left. Game tied 76-76.

Allman said he was intent on getting a game-tying shot away, he just needed the room to do it.

“I knew that I was going to shoot the ball so all I was trying to do was create a little space and shoot,” he said.

“That was crazy,” Banner Allman said. “The first thing I thought (when the game-tying three went in) was ‘oh my gosh he just made that’ but then I realized there was still time on the clock and I was just trying to get everybody to realize that and get back.”

Admittedly, most hope seemed lost by the time Wilson’s free throw put the Eagles up by nine.

“I really didn’t think we had much of a chance and I think everybody kind of thought that but we didn’t act like it,” said Banner Allman. “We still played as hard as we could and didn’t show any signs of doubt.”

“I know how good our team is and that we had a chance to win but I also knew how hard it was going to be to win that game,” added West Allman.

In the overtime period the Eagles scored first to make it 78-76 but Smith responded with a driving layup to tie it.

After Salado went up 80-78, Smith struck again with another penetration and score to tie the game at 80-80. The sophomore guard was terrific for the Hornets scoring seven points in the opening frame and then getting six of his 18 points in overtime.

Gatesville seemed to create some breathing room when Banner Allman knocked down two free throws to make it 84-81 with 2:04 to play, but the Eagles came right back and tied the game at 84-84 on a three-point play from Ball.

But on the ensuing possession, Shea drove and passed to West Allman, who hit a three-pointer that turned out to be the game-winner. It gave the Hornets an 87-84 lead that they would not relinquish as they scored the final eight points of the game from the foul line for the 95-84 win.

That the Hornets were even in a position to need a comeback was a bit of a surprise.

For starters, Salado came into game with a record of 8-17 and had lost five straight before squeaking past Robinson 57-54 in their district opener. Then they found themselves down 29-21 after the first quarter and trailed 39-25 early in the second quarter before mounting a charge thanks to Self’s hot hand.

The senior guard scored eight points in the quarter – including a pair of three-pointers to pull the Eagles to within 10 points, 46-36, at halftime.

The Eagles continued their three-point barrage into the second half.

In the third quarter, junior Luke Law hit a pair of threes for the Eagles as they cut the deficit to 57-52 after three quarters. To open the fourth quarter Self hit a three to make it 57-55, then the Eagles tied it at 57-57 thanks to two free throws from freshman Levi Ball.

A three from Self gave Salado the lead at 60-57 and he extended it to 63-58 with his fifth three of the game. The Eagles final three-pointer from Darius Wilson later extended the lead to 66-60.

The Eagles made 11 three-pointers and shot 44% from behind the arc. They also picked up 22 offensive rebounds that led to 16 second-chance points.

The Hornets shot just 26% from the three-point line but forced 20 turnovers – while committing just nine of their own – and converting those turnovers into 28 points. They also scored 52 points in the paint.

Banner Allman led all scorers with 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. West Allman finished with 24 points, six rebounds, and six steals. Smith had six rebounds and four assists to go with his 18 points and Shea scored 16 points – 12 of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime.

The Hornets join the Eagles, China Spring and Waco La Vega at 1-1 in District 23-4A. Connally leads the district at 2-0 while Robinson is 0-2. Gatesville travels to La Vega on Jan. 20 while Salado hosts China Spring.