Tacoma Community College coach Carl Howell could not take the credit. The final play was not an original last-gasp design.
He got it from Ray Giacoletti, his former boss at Eastern Washington who is now a Gonzaga assistant basketball coach.
With Mark McLaughlin getting close defensive attention along the right sideline, the ball went to Dominique Williams, who sprinted up the middle of the court and launched a 25-foot prayer that was answered at the buzzer Monday, lifting the No. 5 Titans to a dramatic 61-60 victory over Highline in Des Moines.
Williams’ 3-pointer at the buzzer was a straightaway bank shot that went in, keeping the Titans in a first-place tie in the NWAACC West Division with Clark College.
Elated teammates ran and mobbed Williams in celebration.
“I told my team I was going to make it,” Williams said. “No matter what.”
Earlier, McLaughlin – the NWAACC’s leading scorer – had a crack at a 3-pointer with 20 seconds to go with TCC (19-4 overall, 11-1 NWAACC West) trailing 59-58, but missed. The Thunderbirds’ Patrick Christopher rebounded and was fouled.
He made one out of two free throws with 3.3 seconds remaining, setting up the Titans’ last shot.
Howell figured that Highline (6-16, 5-8) would follow McLaughin on the inbounds play. Two defenders did, leaving Williams a crease when he took the ball and hit the winner.
“I owe Ray,” Howell said. “It was his home-run play.”
The Thunderbirds, who scored 36 of their points by overmatching TCC inside – led by Nkosi Ali’s 19 – battled back from a 54-44 deficit with 8 minutes, 10 seconds to go to grab a late lead.
“In fairness to Highline, they deserved to win,” Howell said. “They outplayed us. We scrapped just enough.”
At South Puget Sound 69, Pierce 66: Jamey Smith’s 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the Clippers (9-13, 5-7) the win over the Raiders (15-9, 7-6).
DeShawn Hayes scored a game-high 26 points, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers late for the Clippers.
Hayes and Marcus Braxton combined for 29 second-half points to help the Clippers erase a 10-point deficit.
Pierce’s Patrick Cooks tied the game at 66 with a three-point play with 16 seconds remaining in the game, but Smith, an Olympia High School graduate, buried a 3-pointer as time expired to give the Clippers the victory.
Braxton finished with 17 points.
Dan DeVries, a graduate of Tumwater, hit four 3-pointers and paced the Raiders with 22 points.
Pierce used a 16-0 run and got 15 first-half points from DeVries to grab a 36-26 lead at intermission.
Anye Turner, a Black Hills graduate who had 26 points in South Puget Sound’s 73-72 win against Pierce on Jan. 14, had just one point at the half and finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
South Puget Sound has four regular season games remaining and returns to the court Wednesday when it plays host to Tacoma Community College.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Tacoma CC 56, at Highline 51: Patrice Polk made two free throws with 9.8 seconds to go, and the Titans recovered after blowing all of a 17-point lead in an NWAACC West victory in Des Moines.
The Titans (9-12, 6-6) moved one-half game behind Highline (10-13, 7-6), and own the tiebreaker over the Thunderbirds.
Correspondent Grant Clark contributed to this report.
Todd Milles: 253-597-8442 todd.milles@thenewstribune.com
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