Monday night, after Flower Mound finished off a five-point play for a 67-57 lead with 3 minutes, 18 seconds to play, the Jaguars seemed on their way to 6-0 mark in District 6-5A boys basketball play.
But, Newman Smith wasn’t ready to give up just yet.
Instead, the Trojans turned to their defense, which fueled a 22-4 run, that gave them a 79-71 overtime win at Smith.
The loss snapped Flower Mound’s 10-game winning streak that dated back to Dec. 8. Flower Mound (19-4, 5-1) now finds itself in a three-way tie for first with Smith and Lewisville. Friday, the Jaguars host Hebron to close out the first half of district play.
“We just kept playing defense and never gave up,” said Newman Smith coach Percy Johnson. “We believe we can stop a team on any possessions.”
Flower Mound’s last nine possessions in regulation resulted in three points, five missed free throws and four turnovers. “We didn’t handle their pressure well,” said Flower Mound coach Charles Freet. “We usually handled things well in those types of situations. You have to hand it to them, they are hard to cover. When they drove inside, they were able to get to the line.”
While the Jaguars struggled, Smith used an 11-3 run to close to within two points with 1 minute to play. In the last 14.4 seconds, Flower Mound missed four free throws to keep the score within two points.
With 4.4 seconds remaining, Smith took a time out to draw up a game-tying play. Nick Ross’ driving layup down the baseline at the buzzer sent the game into overtime at 70.
Ross’ three-pointer with 2:40 to play in overtime gave Smith a 73-70 advantage it would never relinquish.
Flower Mound closed to within 73-71 on a free throw by Brad Renz with 2:30 to play. After Cameron Cates (14 points) missed a shot with 1:30 left, the Trojans began a procession to the free-throw line.
The Trojans converted six of six free throws in the final minute and a half to put the game away. During the same time frame, Flower Mound missed its last six shots.
Randall Joyner, who made four of four free throws late, led Smith in scoring with 22 points.
“We had it in our hands,” Freet said. “Maybe we were a little tentative late. We knew we’d have our hands full when we came here.”
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