Cody Crawford wanted the ball in his hands.
One game after being the focus of attention in a box-and-one defense, the West Lowndes High School standout relished an opportunity with 1.2 seconds remaining in regulation to win a game.
Crawford just didn’t know he would get that chance at the free-throw line a little more than a second later.
Standing alone with no time on the clock and the score tied, Crawford knew everyone was looking at him. Those eyes fixed on him after he missed the first free throw. Some of those eyes rolled back in peoples’ heads after Crawford missed the second.
“I got nervous, but then I knew it was going to come to me,” Crawford said.
Crawford’s gaze never wavered, as if he was focused on a dream. In the dream, Crawford admitted he didn’t hit the first free throw, but he managed to hit one, which is what he did Tuesday night.
Crawford’s third attempt rattled off the rim before falling through to give West Lowndes a 79-78 victory against Natchez Cathedral in the first round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 1A South State tournament.
“I just told myself to take my time, to be patient, and to let it come to me,” Crawford said. “Before the game, I was working on them a lot because I thought it was going to come down to a situation like this because both teams were going to come hard.”
West Lowndes (13-14) will advance to face Dexter at 4 p.m. Thursday at West Lincoln for a chance to extend its season.
Bryant Smith led West Lowndes with a game-high 33 points, while Crawford had 21 to help erase the sting of an 84-57 loss to East Oktibbeha in the district title game. Crawford had only 10 points in that game after scoring 33 the game before against French Camp. He said he was happy not to have all of the defensive attention, and his performance showed. He hit back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the second half to help West Lowndes rally from a 12-point deficit.
“He has been more consistent than any of our other guys from the foul line,” West Lowndes coach Rickie Hill said. “I didn’t know if he was going to make that 3-point shot, but the guy looked like he fouled him. I thought he was going to make the first one. He was a little strong on the second one, and the third one caught a lot of rim before it bounced in there.”
Crawford said the defender “got him good” on his shooting arm as he attempted a shot from the left corner. Crawford used an up screen from Smith to give him space to break to the corner, where he received the inbounds pass to set up his first chance to hit a game-winning free throw.
Smith hit two free throws to give West Lowndes a 67-66 lead with 4 minutes, 10 seconds to go. Cathedral rallied to regain the lead and build a five-point cushion before Smith scored on a layup off a turnover and hit two free throws to tie the game at 75. Reginald Hill scored on a layup after a loose ball in the lane either was kicked or rolled through sets of legs to him on the right block. He missed the free throw to give the Panthers a 77-76 advantage. Caleb Upton’s drive with 49.1 seconds left gave Cathedral a short-lived lead that Smith erased with 1 of 2 free throws with 27.9 seconds to play.
Cathedral had a chance to win or to take the lead, but it committed a turnover on a pass to Khalil Brice, who was open on left block on the weak side. Brice then blocked a driving attempt by Smith to set up the final sequence.
“I had about 95 percent confidence in him,” Smith said. “I believed in him he could make the last one.”
Hill said he was proud his players regrouped, played hard, and applied more pressure in the fourth quarter to rally. He said it was sad a game had to end with an official’s call at the end, but he is looking forward to making the adjustments he knows need to be made to keep the season going past Thursday.
“We have some stuff we need to do a little bit better because things aren’t going to get any easier,” Hill said.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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