JACKSON — An extra flick of the wrist from TyShun Spencer is all it took to push the West Lowndes High School boys basketball team one step closer to a championship.
Spencer hit two free throws with seven seconds remaining Thursday to lift West Lowndes to a 54-52 victory against Biggersville in the quarterfinals of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 1A State tournament at Mississippi Coliseum.
“I have been practicing all week for free throws because that is what we are weak at,” Spencer said. “I have been practicing and practicing. I just had to hit the two game-winning shots. (The practice) just made me better.”
West Lowndes (25-8) will play the winner of Houlka-Sacred Heart at 5:30 p.m. Monday at Mississippi Coliseum.
Casey “C.J.” Smith had a team-high 13 points, while Marcus Farmer and Spencer added 10 apiece to help West Lowndes survive after it squandered an eight-point lead in the third quarter.
“There were a lot of missed opportunities,” West Lowndes coach Danny Crawford said. “We threw the ball away in open court. The anxiety made it tough. They were nervous throughout the whole game.”
West Lowndes wasn’t nervous when it counted, though, thanks to an hour of practice a day for the last four days since it missed 20 free throws in its second-round victory against Piney Woods. Crawford said all of the players shot 100 free throws each day to help them improve their focus and gain confidence.
Spencer reaped the rewards from the work, hitting 66 one day and 83 another, according to Crawford.
Spencer kept telling himself over and over he could make both shots to erase any thought of what was going to happen if he missed. He said that confidence helped him drown out the crowd and forget about the day earlier in the week when he made 66 of 100. Spencer said he adjusted by flicking his wrist a little more, which resulted in better percentages on the other days.
On what turned out to be the game-winning free throws, Spencer said he followed a similar pattern.
“I arched the ball and I flicked my wrist,” Spencer said. “I knew they were going in after I flicked my wrist.”
Spencer was 5 of 6 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and finished 8 of 10. He also had six rebounds and shook off the effects of a hyper-extended right knee he suffered against Piney Woods. Spencer overcame the hyperextension by removing a black knee brace on his leg at the 3-minute, 40-second mark of the first quarter. He returned to the game after an absence of 2:15.
“We did a great job at the line,” said Crawford, whose team was 12 of 19 from the free-throw line (63.2 percent). “(Spencer) did an awesome job. The hour a day of free throws paid off.”
West Lowndes wasn’t through to the next round until Devonte Spencer came up short on a step-back 3-pointer from the right wing with two seconds left.
Crawford said the anxiety of playing in the state tournament and in the spacious confines of Mississippi Coliseum contributed to his team’s performance. With Smith and Farmer the only players with experience playing in the venue from the team’s last trip two years ago, Crawford said he left his team alone in hopes it would help them to relax and adjust to the environment.
But West Lowndes never was able to pull away from Biggersville thanks in part to the play of Spears (game-high 26 points). The sophomore guard was 10 of 21 from the field (3 of 7 from 3-point range) and his team’s only player in double figures.
“I was trying to get them to drive the ball, but they are such a good 3-point shooting team that we knew they were going to put up shots,” Crawford said. “I didn’t expect them to shoot the ball as well as they did (6 of 14 from 3-point range), but we were resilient enough to withstand their run.”
Spears hit back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the fourth quarter to give Biggersville a 44-43 lead with 3:21 remaining. The lead grew to three after Spears scored on the block, but Smith answered with a 3-pointer to end the Lions’ momentum.
“That is what C.J. does,” Crawford said. “C.J. is a ballplayer. He was familiar with the atmosphere and familiar with the anxiety, and he knew how everything was going to go. I just told C.J. in the fourth quarter to be himself, and he came through with some big buckets.”
The teams exchanged the lead three times in a final two-and-a-half minutes that featured several big plays. Farmer had the biggest for the Panthers when he drove the baseline and scored with 55 seconds left to give West Lowndes a 51-49 lead. He then hit 1 of 2 free throws with 30 seconds to go.
Gregory Robinson responded with a conventional three-point play after Biggersville nearly threw the ball away against West Lowndes’ pressure defense. Robinson, who played only 10 minutes due to foul trouble, calmly hit the free throw to tie the game with 19 seconds remaining and set the stage for Spencer.
“It is the state championship, so nothing is supposed to come easy,” Smith said. “We have to fight no matter what. If the team breaks down, we have to pick ourselves back up and keep going and keep our confidence level up.”
Smith, who has run the point for the Panthers for the past three seasons, said he could sense some of his teammates were anxious and he tried to talk to them and ease their minds. Through all of the ups and downs, though, Smith knew Spencer was going to hit the free throws at the end.
“I had confidence in him,” Smith said. “It was a big moment and big shots. Of course it was going to go in.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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