In six seconds, Bellarmine Prep High schools boys basketball team went from certain defeat to victory.
Isaiah Flynn’s 3-pointer at the buzzer lifted Bellarmine Prep to a 59-58 victory over Todd Beamer, and sent the Lions fans storming the Auburn High School court on Saturday in the West Central District semifinals.
Bellarmine Prep will face Curtis, the other semifinal winner, Monday at 8 p.m. at the ShoWare Center in Kent. Curtis defeated Bethel, 68-50.
The Lions trailed by two with Beamer’s Forest Grant at the free-throw line shooting two after a Flynn turnover and foul.
Grant missed both shots and Bellarmine’s Lucas Meikle, who had a game-high 22 points, grabbed the rebound.
He threw a pass to Flynn, who drove up the court before firing his game-winning shot in front of the Bellarmine bench.
“I can’t explain it,” said Flynn, who finished with 14 points.
“I saw the shot go through and I was just celebrating. I wanted to celebrate with my teammates, I saw my dad and family and wanted to just celebrate with them. It was a good win. We definitely made some mistakes defensively, but we pulled it out.”
Bellarmine head coach Bernie Salazar said it was one of those games that just worked out for Prep in the end.
“It was a very hard fought game from both sides,” a relieved Salazar said. “We were fortunate to have the last shot. It was a great shot that Isaiah made. Sometimes you’re on one end, sometimes you’re on the other end.”
Despite the hard-luck loss, Beamer could feel about its battle back from an eight-point deficit with five minutes to play.
“At this time in the season, you never know what you’re going to get,” a somber Todd Beamer head coach Winston Bell said.
“I just feel like the way our kids battled the last five or six minutes, that was incredible. I’ve seen spurts of it out of them, but the last five minutes, they just took over the game.”
There was not much dramatic about Curtis’ victory.
Curtis, which was led in scoring by Dom Robinson with 19, went ahead early and never looked back.
“It’s just another game in trying to get to the district championship, which we accomplished,” Curtis head coach Tim Kelly said.
“It’s always hard to beat a team in your league three times and they were playing really well.”
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