INMAN, S.C. – As time wound down in overtime Thursday night, the Broome Centurions and Chapman Panthers were deadlocked at 74 in a chaotic Region 3-3A clash. On this night, it would be the royal blue that had the last word.
Broome guard Lance Henderson found Ja’Coreyun Broadus in the front court, who made a leaping catch and weaved his way to the rim for the game-winning layup with three seconds left, lifting the Centurions to a thrilling 76-74 victory over Chapman. “I knew (Broadus) had separation back there,” Broome head coach Hal McManus recalled. “He made a great catch over his outside shoulder… he had to catch it, then go back across his body to make the shot. That was a tougher shot than it looked like because of his body angle. I’m very proud of Lance getting the ball to him and him having the toughness to make that shot.” With under two minutes left in the fourth quarter, two baskets – one apiece by Kamajay Brackett-Brannon and D.T. Thompson – keyed a 7-0 burst that built a 60-53 Broome lead. Shortly thereafter, a Hawken Smith three-pointer and two Josiah Moore free throws helped Chapman cut the deficit down to 61-58 with 57 seconds left in regulation. Moments later, J.P. Davis banked home a triple from the left corner to beat the buzzer and force the extra frame. With just under two minutes to go in overtime, Grayden Humphries knocked down a shot on consecutive possessions and gave Chapman a 70-66 lead. Broome responded with a Henderson triple that slashed the deficit to one with 90 seconds left. “What a roller coaster of emotions,” McManus remarked. “Towards the end of the fourth quarter, we were up seven, but they just kept on chipping away. Our thought process going in (to overtime) was ‘Hey, this is fun. We’ve got another four minutes of basketball. Let’s go compete for another four minutes and see what happens.’ They took that mantra and ran with it.” Two Shawn Cunningham free throws put the Panthers up by three, 72-69, but the Centurions produced another answer as a Levi Bishop free throw line jumper and Xavier Hill free throw tied the game with just under a minute remaining. After two more Cunningham free throws, Broadus knocked down a shot from close range and tied the game at 74 with less than 25 seconds to play in the contest. “For us to get a stop on that last possession and then get a layup with three seconds left was big,” added McManus. “This was a tough environment to play in. Hats off to Chapman. They had a great student section and they were on us tonight. That’s what it should be like. I thought our kids were very resilient and battled through some adversity tonight.” Broome (14-12, 5-3 Region) had four players finish in double figures, led by Hill with a game-high 21 points. Broadus scored 19 points, followed by Brackett-Brannon with 16 and Henderson with 11 points, respectively. Moon scored a team-high 14 points for Chapman. Humphries, Smith, and Max Carter recorded nine points each, while Cunningham, Davis, and Moore tallied eight points apiece for the Panthers. 3A Men’s Basketball playoffs 1st Round – Tuesday, Feb. 13th · Broome at Seneca – 7 PM · Chapman at Daniel – TBA Comments are closed.
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