Holmes’ buzzer beater advances Beavers in state tournament
March madness has started with the Glen Rose Beavers basketball team upsetting the Newport Greyhounds in the first round of the 3A State Tournament Wednesday, hosted at Yellowjacket Arena in Clinton.
It looked as though the Beavers’ state tournament run was over after the Greyhounds scored with under a second remaining in the game to lead 31-30. The Beavers immediately called a timeout though and during the time out, time was added to the clock. Working with 2.6 seconds, instead of less than a second, the Beavers were able to setup a game-winning layup to upset the Greyhounds 32-31.
It started on the far side of the court with senior Andrew Weatherford inbounding the ball. Weatherford threw the ball about three quarters of the way down the court to junior Brayden Youngman who took one dribble before passing it to a wide open Ahmad Holmes. Holmes was able to make the basket and beat the buzzer to get the win for the Beavers.
The Beavers now advance to the second round of the state tournament where they will face the Lamar Warriors. Lamar also had an upset win against Bergman Monday in the first round of the tournament. Lamar beat Bergman 64-57 as a fourth seed taking on a one seed. Game time between Glen Rose and Lamar is 1 p.m. today in Clinton. The game can be viewed live through the Arkansas Activities Association app or at www.aaascoreboard.com.
Wednesday’s game was a low scoring, defensive affair for both teams. The Greyhounds took the early momentum in the first half and the Beavers making a comeback in the second half. The Beavers kicked off scoring in the first quarter with Andrew Fletcher nailing a 3-pointer from behind the arc. The Greyhounds then came back with a 3-pointer at the 5:05 mark and a bucket from down low at the 4:15 mark to take the lead 5-3. At the four minute mark Fletcher received a back door pass and went in for the score to retie the game but fouls plagued the Beavers for the remainder of the quarter. The Greyhounds went six for six on free throws in the first quarter and took a six-point 11-5 lead over the Beavers.
The Greyhounds momentum continued in the second when they went up by 10 points, 15-5 over the Beavers with 3:33 left in the first half. Fletcher was able to swing the momentum back to the Beavers with a score at the 2:57 mark. This kicked off a 6-2 run by the Beavers through the end of the quarter. At half, the Beavers trailed 17-11 to the Greyhounds.
The third quarter is when things really started to turn around for the Beavers. Despite the Greyhounds taking a nine-point, 22-13 lead with just 3:21 left in the third, the Beavers were able to put together a run to get back into contention. Youngman started the run with a basket at the three minute mark. Junior Taggart “Tagg” Haynes then drained a 3-pointer and Holmes came back with another two points to put the Beavers down 2220 with 1:48 remaining in the third quarter. The Greyhounds made two free throws to take a four-point lead but Carter Cohen sank a 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining to put the Beavers down 24-23. The Greyhounds would make another pair of free throws at the end of the quarter to take a 2723 lead going into the fourth.
Going into the fourth, the Beavers were on the verge of full momentum. Andrew Weatherford gave the Beavers full momentum when he hit back-to-back baskets to tie the game at 27-27. The Greyhounds retook the lead and held it for the next four minutes. At the 1:11 mark Carter hit a massive 3-pointer to give the Beavers their first lead since the first quarter. The Greyhounds came back though with just seconds remaining to retake the lead 3130. It took three tries before the Greyhounds made what they thought was the game winning basket. The Beavers were the spoilers though as Holmes made the layup at the buzzer to give the Beavers the win.
For the game Carter was the leading scorer with 10 points, including two massive 3-pointers. Fletcher was the next leading scorer with nine points. After that it was Holmes and Weatherford with four points each, Haynes with three points, and Youngman with two points.