When comparing buzzer-beaters, a halfcourt shot is a little bit easier than a free throw for Wilson senior point guard Phoenix Waters.
But with free throws, you get two chances. Waters hit the second of two, snapping a tie with three seconds to play Monday and giving Wilson a 52-51 road win at Lincoln.
The win put the Rams (15-2 overall, 7-0 Narrows 3A) in the driver’s seat to win the league title. Wilson has a two-game lead over Foss and Lincoln (14-4, 5-2) with three games to play.
“It was our seniors,” Wilson coach Dave Alwert said. “They knew this was probably the last time that they played in this facility, and they wanted it.”
With the score tied at 51, Wilson senior Kevin Johnson missed a 3-point shot but Waters grabbed the offensive rebound and called timeout with 17 seconds to play.
After the huddle, Wilson isolated Waters with the ball and let him drive – and draw a foul by Dashawn Moore Jr.
Waters went to the free-throw line, where he was 7-for-7 in the game.
So of course, the first free throw rimmed out.
“I didn’t bend my knees – my head wasn’t in it on the first one,” Waters said.
No problem. He calmly drained the second shot, giving Wilson the lead – and the Rams held on for their seventh consecutive win.
The final free throw was far from Waters’ only heroics. The 5-foot-9 point guard made a halfcourt shot as time expired in the third quarter, giving Wilson a 40-39 lead.
Nobody on the Wilson bench was surprised.
“Phoenix hits that shot every day in practice,” Alwert said. “He hit four in a row last week – they were doing a little competition after practice.”
Waters hoisted the shot and held his follow-through as the crowd raged.
“I knew that was going in – I do it all the time,” he said.
Waters finished with 17 points. Senior forward Jaiden Martin scored 13, and fellow senior Johnson had 11.
Martin had a big steal-and-layup with 4 minutes, 10 seconds to play, giving Wilson a 47-46 lead to stop a Tre’Shaun Lexing scoring spree.
Lexing scored seven points in a row for Lincoln, and it appeared that the Abes were about to take command.
Johnson missed a shot and Lincoln cleared the rebound, but Martin was there to steal the outlet pass and hit a lay-up while being fouled.
“The game was won with Jaiden’s steal – that put us back in the game,” Alwert said.
Lexing, who led Lincoln with 18 points, had only two points and was struggling until he drained a 3-pointer from the corner just before halftime. That seemed to warm him up.
The game was originally scheduled for Jan. 20, but was snowed out and rescheduled for Monday. The teams play again in just nine days at Wilson – but the Rams are hoping to have the league title locked up by then.
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