Kyle Johnson's off-balance shot falls, putting Largo into the final and the playoffs.
By JOHN C. COTEY
Published February 21, 2004
CLEARWATER - Largo senior center Kyle Johnson has put countless months, never-ending days and painstaking hours into his basketball career. All in preparation for the most memorable 7/10ths of a second of his life.
Catching an inbounds pass from Trevor Bing and flipping up an off balance shot as the final buzzer sounded, Johnson fell backward to the court as the ball dropped through the hoop to give Largo a stunning 46-45 win over Dunedin on Friday night.
"I knew soon as it hit the rim, it was going in," Johnson said. "Man, that was the greatest feeling ever. I've never hit a shot at the buzzer before. Crazy."
The victory sends the Packers into tonight's final against Clearwater, an easy winner over East Lake.
Johnson's heroics set off a raucous celebration at halfcourt that was a good part relief. The Packers (19-7) had squandered a number of chances to pull out the game, missing four of five free throws in the final three minutes. Julius Oie had a chance to tie the game with two seconds left, but missed his second attempt, seemingly dooming the Packers.
But the rebound went off a Dunedin player and out of bounds with 7/10ths of a second remaining.
Largo called its final timeout and forward Bing urged coach Phil Price to call the alley-oop play.
"I knew right away there wasn't time for anything else," he said, calling for the same play Largo used to run with great success for his brother Erroyl.
Standing to the left of the basket - Largo usually only runs the play when inbounding to the right of the basket - Bing waited for Johnson to spin to his left off defender Donovan Bouterse, and flipped the ball skyward.
Bouterse, one of the best and quickest leapers in the county, got turned around and was late to get a hand in Johnson's face. Still, Johnson was hit in mid-air, knocked off balance and barely got enough on the shot, which hit the front of the rim before falling through.
"Never a doubt," Price joked. "He'll remember that one forever. Shoot, we'll all remember that one forever."
Dunedin (15-10) was led by Justin Glenn's 13 points, while Fred Marshall had 13 to pace Largo and Bing added 12.
In the other semifinal, 6-foot-10 center Cruz Daniels (15 points) hit an assortment of short baseline jumpers to power Clearwater to a 24-4 lead after the first quarter, and the Tornadoes (24-2) cruised home from there.
Clearwater forward Jon Thomas scored a game-high 20, while David McKee made four 3-pointers on the way to a team-high 15 points for East Lake, which finished the season 8-16.
