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Devon Wilson shoots his game-winning shot seconds before the buzzer.
In a dazzling display of clutch shooting, Watonga’s Devon Wilson hit a buzzerbeating 3-point shot in the third and fourth quarter, both, to help lift the Eagles over Fairview on the Jackets’ home court Tuesday.
Watonga won 55-54 despite trailing by two in the final seconds after Wilson caught the ball on the inbounds pass with 4.5 seconds left to play, dribbled to the top of the arc, faked a pass and then uncorked a 3 as time expired. His game-winning shot left Eagles fans ecstatic as the team celebrated on the court, while the Fairview crowd and players looked on in disbelief. “I knew that they were gonna be a really tough team,” Coach Brandon Gallagher said, “they had really been playing well.”
The shot capped a rollercoaster Regional tournament for Watonga and sends them on to Areas, where they’ll play in Hennessey on Thursday at 8 p.m.
The boys were coming in with confidence, having knocked off Cordell the day before, and got out to a hot start in the first quarter when point guard Deondre Dunn hit a 3-pointer right out of the gate.
Fairview forward Kaden Pettus emerged quickly as Watonga’s biggest problem. The 6-footer swatted multiple Watonga shots in the first few minutes, plus scored Fairview’s first seven points from the post and then behind the arc.
But Laron Whiteshield added some offense down low for the Eagles, picking up some crucial rebounds along the way. After a big 3 from Phoenix Whiteshirt late in the quarter, Watonga finished the first up 16-14.
Watonga grew its lead before halftime – but only by one point. Watonga’s shooting really began to shine in the second quarter, aided by a gritty and-one from Wilson that set the Watonga crowd on fire.
But Watonga got cold toward the end of the quarter, let Fairview hit a few shots and was even assessed a technical foul when Dunn complained to a referee. Watonga entered the half up 29-26.
The Yellowjackets began to assert themselves in the third quarter, taking the lead with two quick buckets less than a minute into the half. Watonga calmed itself but battled bad luck and turnover troubles throughout the quarter, giving up scores to Pettus, Austin Houk and Jax Bernard down the stretch before Wilson’s first buzzer-beater kept them within three points, 45- 42, at the end of the quarter.
Both teams’ offenses went ice-cold for stretches of the fourth quarter, which played into Fairview’s lead. The refs swallowed their whistles for most of the day, preferring to let the athletes play on. But they made an exception early in the fourth when they called three offensive fouls in less than a minute, two on Watonga, that stalled the Eagles’ scoring hopes.
With just under a minute remaining, Dunn knotted the score at 51. But the Eagles quickly gave up a score to Houk on the other end, needing another basket to extend the game. Whiteshield was fouled under the rim with 7.8 seconds remaining, needing to hit both his free throws to tie the game.
The Fairview crowd ratcheted up the volume to distract him, but Whiteshield hit his first shot. His second, however, bounced out. Fairview grabbed the rebound and Watonga fouled, down one and looking for a way to get one last shot up.
Watonga had to foul Fairview twice just to put the Yellowjackets in the bonus. Once they did, and sent Fairview to the line, Sawyer Hutchison hit just one of his two free throws, extending the Jackets’ lead to 54-52. Watonga grabbed the rebound and called timeout, angling for one last shot with 4.7 seconds remaining.
Watonga’s first inbounds pass was tipped out by Fairview. Its second, two timeouts later, went to Wilson – who rose to the occasion. “It actually came down to just a basic fundamental play. Devon comes to a jump stop, he ball fakes, his defender leaves and then he gets a good look, and he had just hit one of those at the end of the third quarter too. … In that situation that’s a pretty good look you can get … sometimes when those shots leave their hands it’s kinda up to God and molecules, and you know fortunately it went in for us,” Gallagher said.
“Going into it we knew they were really big and physical and athletic. … I thought that our defenses kept us in it a lot. Offensively we didn’t panic,” Gallagher said. They kept their composure well, and it all came down to defense in Gallagher’s opinion. They “battled” all day long, giving them the opportunity for Devon to hit the shot, which wouldn’t have been possible if not for the fight the Eagles put up. They are excited for the Area tournament, and they’re prepared to be in the State Tournament.
Lady Eagles Over Sayre
Earlier Tuesday, the Watonga Lady Eagles picked up where they left off the day before, having hit a whopping 16 3-pointers against Cordell to propel them to the consolation finals in Fairview. In a battle of the Eagles against Sayre, Watonga launched 3- point attempts on its first three possessions and nailed two of them, answering an early Sayre 3 to go up 6-3. Coach Lauren Campo was ready to go “work” with her team.
“Going into the Regional Tournament- we really want to be playing at a high level for four quarters,” Campo said. After a close loss to Merritt, the Lady Eagles had the huge Cordell win, which prepared them for Sayre.
Sayre was “a battle of the 1-3-1s” for Watonga. “We wanted to put ourselves in a good position in the 1st half so that in the second half we could control the game and the tempo,” Campo said. Before the game, Campo told the girls, “W-I-T. Be willing to do whatever it takes!”
With Mary Barton sidelined by an injury she sustained Saturday night, Watonga started Landri Hussey, Aubrey Bridges, Azha’Rae Richard, Natalie Walker and Evelyn Carmona against Sayre.
Watonga landed in the bonus quickly and went to the line four times in the first quarter alone, but hit only three of its eight free throws. Still, Watonga ended the quarter with a 13-9 advantage after buckets from Bridges and Richard to close the quarter. Richard’s basket came on a steal that she took to the house herself on a fast break.
Watonga kept the advantage at halftime, but only by two points at 26-24. The teams traded free throws for most of the second quarter, but Bridges kept up her impressive play with another steal-and-score on an inbounds pass. Bridges isn’t the tallest player but didn’t let that stop her on the defensive end, swatting a Sayre attempt under the basket on one possession. A Hussey 3-pointer helped Watonga end the half with the lead.
The third quarter proved crucial, as Watonga’s shooting began to differentiate the teams. Though Sayre knotted the game at 26 early on, Watonga pulled ahead quickly with 3s from Richard and Walker, who heated up after an uneven start.
With more than two minutes left in the third and Watonga leading by five, the Eagles dribbled the ball past half-court and encountered no resistance. Bridges stopped and held the ball; the Sayre players looked to their coach for guidance, but he instructed them not to pressure, betting on the Lady Eagles to make a mistake.
They almost did. Richard, who felt wide-open on the baseline, called for a pass and received one – that was almost turned over. Watonga reset near halfcourt and held the ball for the final shot.
The calculation backfired for Sayre. Bridges launched yet another 3-pointer before the buzzer and swished it, putting Watonga ahead 42-34.
Sayre couldn’t close the gap in the fourth quarter and Watonga ultimately prevailed, 53-40.
Bridges finished as Watonga’s leading scorer by far, with 20 points. The Lady Eagles will play again this Thursday, March 3, at 6:30 p.m.
“Mindset moving forwardsurvive and advance! Everyone is good at this point. We have to just compete and stick with what got us there!” Campo said. She is thankful to be able to work with the amazing group of girls she has, and she is “so proud of our entire team!”