Liberty Hill comes from behind, stuns Decatur at the buzzer in 4A state semifinal
Liberty Hill looked down and out of Friday’s Class 4A state semifinal game especially after Grayson Harris’ 3-pointer with 5:56 left in the third quarter put Decatur up 36-20.
But the Panthers never gave up and inched their way back.
Decatur missed two free throws down the stretch which gave Parker McCurdy and Liberty Hill a chance.
Trailing 51-50, the Panthers rebounded the Eagles’ second free-throw miss with 8 seconds left and McCurdy took a Kaleb Bannon pass and drained a corner 3-pointer to beat the buzzer, 53-51 at the Alamodome.
Liberty Hill (34-6), in its first trip to state since 1991, advances to the 4A final, 7 p.m. on Saturday against Dallas Oak Cliff Faith Family.
The Eagles (37-4), in their first trip to state, went 5 of 8 from the field in the first quarter, but the Panthers made 7 free throw attempts to grab a 13-12 lead after one. Decatur led 29-20 at intermission after holding Liberty Hill to 1 of 4 shooting in the second quarter.
Decatur opened the second half with the first seven points to grab its largest lead of the game. In addition to Harris’ three, the Eagles got layups from Noah Young and Izek Chavana. Decatur led by 11 after three.
Liberty Hill, which led for 4 minutes, 43 seconds, outscored Decatur 18-5 in the fourth and forced 11 second-half turnovers. Bannon and McCurdy hit baskets to get the Panthers within 5 with 7:12 to play. Walker Baty made it 48-46 with a 3-point play at the 3:49 mark.
Harris, who scored 10 points, hit his second 3-pointer to push Decatur ahead 51-48 with 3:26 to go.
The Panthers went 9 of 12 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter. Decatur went 2 of 10 from the floor and 0 of 2 from the line in the final period. Bannon scored a team-high 12 points. Baty and Carson Perkins added 11 and 10. The Eagles were led by Gage Rieger’s 15 points.
This story was originally published March 8, 2019 at 3:53 PM.
