Cunningham, TN – A Justin Cowan layup in the final 15 seconds, followed with a blocked shot right before the final horn, sealed away a 15-point come-from-behind victory for Montgomery Central High School, December 12th at the Thomas-Young Gymnasium, as they edged Clarksville Academy, 48-47.
The Cowan layup for Montgomery Central (3-3) came after Clarksville Academy’s Thomas Jackson had given the Cougars the lead, 47-46 with 22.9 seconds left, after hitting on of two free throw attempts.
But the layup was only the beginning of the excitement in the game’s final 15 seconds, as the Indians forced a turnover by the Cougars (3-5), but turned the ball right back over, as the clock continued to click away.After Clarksville Academy got the ball back, they almost had a two-on-none break for the possible game winning basket, but the Indians Alex Wade got back and tipped the ball away with 3.1 seconds left in the game and the Cougars getting one final chance with the ball coming in from under their own basket.
The Cougars were able to get the ball into the hands of their leading scorer Austin Fisher – who finished with 17 points — just inside the three-point arc on the right side of the floor, where he was able to take one dribble and step into a shot from about 13-foot out.
But two Indian defenders were there to block the shot, with Fisher falling to the ground looking for a foul call.
No foul was whistled and the Indians picked up the loose ball as the final horn sounded to give them the one-point victory.
After being down 15 at halftime, Montgomery Central had taken its first lead of the game since leading 4-2 in the game first few minutes, 46-45 following a basket by Dalton Perkins, with 1:53 left in the game.
But a couple of missed shots and a turnover gave the Cougars a couple of chances to tie and retake the lead before what turned out to be Cowan’s ultimate game-winning basket.
Still down 10 points, 41-31, heading into the final quarter, Montgomery Central had started to chip away at the Cougars lead holding Clarksville Academy scoreless in the period for the first 2:47, while scoring five points of their own to cut the margin in half, 41-36.
In the first half, Clarksville Academy broke open a 6-6 tie with an 11-0 over a span of just under three minutes to lead 17-6, with 7:47 left in the first half.
The score would remain a nine-to-10 point ball game the rest of the first half, until the final three minutes of the first half, where the Cougars closing out the half on a 6-0 run to go up 32-17 at intermission.
Box Score
Montgomery Central 48, Clarksville Academy 47
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
Clarksville Academy Cougars | 15 | 17 | 9 | 6 | 47 |
Montgomery Central Indians | 6 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 48 |
Clarksville Academy: Josh Anderson 2, Ian Campbell 6, Thomas Jackson 14, Jake Rugen 5, Taylor Haston 3, Austin Fisher 17. Team totals 16 13-22 47.
Montgomery Central: Dalton Perkins 4, Blake Bradley 3, Alex Wade 10, Lamont Smith 8, Trey Burney 14, Justin Cowan 7, Zach Norfleet 2. Team totals 18 10-21 48.
3-point field goals: Clarksville Academy 2 (Haston 1, Fisher 1), Montgomery Central 2 (Bradley 1, Cowan 1).
Records: Clarksville Academy 3-5, Montgomery Central 3-3.