The Upperman Bees showed poise and resiliency when they went on the road to a raucous gym in Jamestown and earned a 55-52 win over the York Dragons in double overtime.
The third-ranked Bees trailed in the fourth quarter and both overtime periods but battled back each time to earn the District 8/AA win and return to first place.
“This is the first crazy environment, with fans, that we’ve been in,” said UHS head coach Bobby McWilliams. “Either team could have won that game, but I’m sure glad we did.”
The two teams atop the standings battled back-and-forth throughout the game, with the Bees holding an 18-16 lead at halftime.
The Dragons moved ahead 34-30 in the fourth quarter, sending the hometown crowd into a frenzy, but AJ Nash scored five straight points to give the Bees a one-point advantage with three minutes remaining.
Bryson Bilbrey made two free throws to give the Dragons a 36-35 lead, but Nash then buried his second three of the corner to make it 36-38 with one minute remaining. Riley Cooper made a second-chance basket seconds later to tie the game and send it to overtime.
“It’s huge for him,” said McWilliams on Nash. “This environment… it’s the first time he’s been in that. I thought he played really well. These guys have confidence in him. If he’s open, they find him. I’m just super proud of him.”
The Dragons appeared to be closing in on their second win over Upperman this season when the Bees turned the ball over with 6.5 seconds remaining in the first overtime. A missed free throw gave Upperman an opportunity, and Collin Gore capitalized with a contested three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into double overtime.
COLLIN GORE ARE YOU SERIOUS?
We are going to double overtime after this absurd buzzer beating 3.
Tied at 48 pic.twitter.com/KiPuYUp9Tz
— Noah McKay (@NoahMcKayUCR) February 5, 2021
“Coach told me during the timeout that he wanted me to take the shot,” said Gore. “I knew we had five seconds left so I was just trying to get down the court and get an open three. I had a shot and I hit it.”
The Dragons led 52-51 with 1:20 left in the second overtime. Gore then airballed a three, but immediately bounced back by forcing a turnover leading to an uncontested layup. He then added another layup with 20 seconds remaining to give Upperman a three-point advantage.
A last second shot by the Dragons fell short as the Bees secured the 55-52 win.
“Both teams were playing really hard,” said McWilliams. “To me, it was a clean and aggressive game. Both teams played well and fought. We’re just happy we ended up winning.”
Gore led the way with 26 points. 13 came in the overtime periods.
“It was huge,” said McWilliams on Gore’s performance. “If you give him an opportunity, he’s going to make a play somewhere down the stretch.”
Nash added 10 points, Jace McWilliams tallied nine while Jaxon Fox and Alex Rush each had five.
Cooper led the way for the Dragons with 22 points. Bilbrey added 19.
McWilliams said his team’s experience was a key to their resiliency, despite playing without Kason Grissom and Isaiah Allen.
“We’ve said all along (to the team), no matter what the situation is you’ve got an opportunity to get yourself back in the game because of who you are,” said McWilliams. “And they did. We just made enough plays each time.”
Gore echoed his coach.
“We didn’t play our best game, but the whole time we were just fighting together and fighting through it,” said Gore. “We were able to come out on top.”
The Dragons (14-9, 9-2) will return to the court Friday when they travel to Macon County. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
The Bees (18-4, 11-1) will return to action Tuesday when they travel to take on Cannon County. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. If they win their final two district games, they will capture the regular season district title and host the district tournament.
“We’ll enjoy this one through the night,” said McWilliams. “We’ve got a couple of days where we can get rested and get our legs back a little bit. This was a good game for us.”