Cleveland beats Eldorado with wild finish in third overtime
Sophomore Smith is the hero for Storm
Eldorado probably should have won in regulation. And the first overtime, too. The Eagles did neither, leaving Cleveland to win it at the end of the third OT in a thriller that had just the faintest hint of a North Carolina State-Houston finish.
Sophomore Nakqi Smith, in the game simply because so many of his teammates had already fouled out, scored on a buzzer beating layup, and the visiting Storm escaped with an incredible 111-109, triple-OT victory over the Eagles on Tuesday night.
“I knew the clock was running, and I just tried to put it up real quick,” said Smith.
Smith’s shot hit the front end of the rim, then crept over into the net, ending one of the most exciting and evenly-matched games of the season.
And Smith’s heroics — which saw him at the bottom of a huge pile of Cleveland players just seconds later — was made possible simply because at half court, guard Marcus Hill put up a desperation 3-point attempt when he still had a second or two to dribble. His shot fell so short, the ball appeared to clip the bottom of the backboard and stayed in bounds.
The ball caromed into the hands of Smith, who had no resistance from an Eldorado defender as he went up for the game-winner.
“It was gonna come down to who had the ball last, and that’s what it was,” said Cleveland coach Sean Jimenez. “I’ll tell you this: we had four guys foul out, but we’re a very deep team.”
This matchup, pairing two of 6A’s better teams, had enough twists and turns and drama to fill five games.
Eldorado (7-5) led the entire first half. Cleveland (12-5) claimed the lead for the first time early in the third quarter, but the Eagles regrouped and led 59-51 headed to the fourth quarter.
The Eagles had a chance to put the game away in regulation. But in the final 30 seconds, they had four, two-shot free throw situations, and made 1 out of 2 in each instance. Those misses kept Cleveland alive.
Off the bench, post Tyrique Weaver scored with 2.2 seconds left to force overtime.
More free throw misses hampered the Eagles in the first OT; Weaver’s tip-in off a Hill miss at the buzzer tied it again at 91 and sent the game to a second extra session.
Hill, on a drive, scored with 28 seconds to go in the second OT, necessitating a third overtime.
Eldorado appeared in good shape, up 104-100 and at the line to try for a 105th point, but another miss at the line infused life — again — into the Storm.
So much so that Cleveland went on a 9-2 run and led 109-106 with 19 seconds left. But Eldorado’s Tanner Carter launched a high-arcing 3-pointer that swished through and tied the game at 109 with 6.2 seconds left. Jimenez was on the Storm bench, imploring his team to foul an Eagle before they could get a potential game-tying shot airborne. But it was so loud, nobody heard him.
Still, Cleveland set up a final play that was supposed to have the quick Hill drive to the rack, which he had done repeatedly, and often successfully.
But it appeared he lost track of time — which, ironically, benefitted Cleveland.
“I could see Nakqi coming out of the corner of me eye,” Jimenez said. “I thought he might get an offensive rebound.”
The teams combined for 68 fouls and 98 free throws.
Jayden Phillips led the Storm — which has played nine straight games away from home dating to Dec. 17 at Oñate — with 23 points. Hill added 21 and Aamer Muhammad 18. Cleveland had five players in double figures.
Carter led Eldorado with 21 points. Michael Mounho added 20. Both hurt Cleveland from the arc, as they combined for nine 3s. The Eagles suffered another tough loss following earlier setbacks to Albuquerque High and Española Valley, the latter also being in overtime.
“That was a high-level game between two top-tier teams,” Eagles coach Roy Sanchez said. “We talk about being a tough team … we have to bounce back.”