With 7.7 seconds left in the game, down 53-54 with the length of the court to go, McCracken’s Miles Woodfork connected on a pass to senior Owen Grogan, who weaved through a pair of Graves defenders to convert an acrobatic layup in the final second to give the Mustangs the 55-54 win over the Eagles.
“Honestly, it was all a blur,” Grogan said after hitting the game-winner. “I made it, and I didn’t really know how to react. I just kind of went crazy.”
“We were considering calling a timeout when we got to about half court, depending on what the picture looked like,” head coach Dustin Roberts said. “But when we got that ball ahead that deep, I thought that we had a good chance at a layup or offensive rebound, and we went ahead and let it play out.”
Just before that, Trevor Frick hit a shot that put Graves County up one with seven seconds to go. Graves played an outstanding game defensively all night, but came up just short of the win.
“Graves played a really good game, schemed us up a little bit, and honestly outplayed us for a lot of the game,” Roberts said. “We’ve showed a lot of resolve down the stretch. We stayed composed again, and made the plays we needed to make.”
In the back-and-forth affair at the Eagles’ nest on Friday night, Graves held the advantage for a majority of the way. Bodie VeuCasovic gave the Eagles a spark headed into the half after burying a three to put them up 34-30.
Solid third quarters by Miles Woodfork and Aaron Adams knotted the game at 47 with just eight minutes left to decide the outcome.
A defensive fourth consisted of just eight points from Graves and nine for McCracken, as each team left it all out on the floor
Their second buzzer-beater win in the past month, McCracken has proven they have what it takes to grind out a win in crunch time. They are now 23-3 on the year and a perfect 13-0 in region play.
“This was a great win for our confidence,” Miller said. “This allows us to keep being undefeated in Region 1. It’s a great momentum builder to go into districts and regionals.”
The loss snaps Graves’ six-game winning streak, dating all the way back to January 20th. Still with the hot hand, they look to finish out their regular season strong with two matchups next week against Carlisle County on Tuesday and Marshall County on Thursday.
Game stats
McCracken County 16 | 14 | 17 | 8 — 55
Graves County 15 | 19 | 13 | 7 — 54
MC- M. Woodfork 20, A. Adams 13, J. Klope 10, J. Diaz 6, M. Tanner 6
GC- T. Cavette 18, B. VeuCasovic 13, T. Frick 9, B. Cherry 5, C. Fulcher 5, C. Amis 4