After letting a double-digit lead slip away in the fourth quarter, the Aberdeen Bobcats came up clutch down the stretch to earn an important 50-49 win over Centralia on Tuesday in Aberdeen.
The Bobcats (3-10 overall, 3-5 2A Evergreen) led by as much as 12 points in the second half but saw the Tigers (2-10, 0-7) erase the deficit and grab a 49-48 lead with a minute left.
A clutch drive and basket by Cats junior guard Manny Garcia proved to be the game-winner as Aberdeen kept pace in the race for the 2A Evergreen League’s final playoff spot.
Aberdeen trailed 10-4 over the first six minutes of the game but rallied back to close the gap to 14-11 on an offensive rebound and putback from senior Kenny Dawson late in the first period.
In the second quarter, Aberdeen caught fire. Down 21-17 halfway through the period, Aberdeen took command of the game with a 13-0 run to close out the first half.
The Bobcats tied the game at 21-all when Garcia scored in the paint after receiving a nifty interior pass from senior guard Trey Anderson.
Aberdeen would score off another interior-pass connection when junior Patrick Walsh drove baseline and sent a bounce pass to junior center Jabron Brooks, who scored to put Aberdeen up 23-21.
RYAN SPARKS / THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen center Jabron Brooks, left, grabs a rebound over Centralia’s Carlos Vallejo (30) during the Bobcats’ 50-49 win on Tuesday at Sam Benn Gym in Aberdeen.
Brooks would make 1 of 2 free throws with 5.8 second left to cap the run and close out the half with Aberdeen up 30-21.
“The big thing we’ve been stressing since the beginning of the season is that we have to move and move the ball,” Aberdeen head coach Brandin Brooks said. “It’s been a process all season of us learning how to move and pass with each other and doing it in a way where it’s effective and we can all get a look at the basket. … When they’re moving and passing it’s hard to stop because there is a lot of talented guys out there.”
Aberdeen went up by as much as 12 points in the second half when senior guard Kyle Miller buried a three from the elbow for a 36-24 lead at the 4:55 mark of the third quarter.
Centralia cut the deficit to 36-30 on a basket from the low post by sophomore center Carlos Vallejo with 2:15 to go in the third.
Aberdeen responded to go up by 10 at 40-30 on a steal and layup by Anderson at the 1:35 mark and eventually took a 42-34 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Miller hit a pull-up jumper to put Aberdeen back up by double digits at 44-34 early in the fourth quarter, but Aberdeen would only score two more points over the next four minutes as Centralia cut into the lead.
The Tigers would climb to within a bucket at 46-43 on a Vallejo three with 4:01 left in the game and took a 49-48 lead when junior guard Aidan Haines hit a cutting Cohen Ballard with a pass for an open layup with 41 seconds to go.
With 35.9 seconds to go in the game, Garcia received the inbound pass, dribbled across mid-court and didn’t stop, leaping toward the rim for a left-handed finger-roll to give Aberdeen the 50-49 lead.
“I told them we have to remain composed and the one thing we wanted to do is put the ball in one of our best scorers’ hands,” Coach Brooks said of what he told his team during a timeout just before Garcia’s go-ahead bucket. “We just wanted (Garcia) to get some space and get loose because if he gets open he’s going to knock it down.”
“I saw they were playing up on me and I’m like, ‘No one can guard me 1-on-1,’ so I’m just going to take it to the rim and see what happens,” Garcia said of the game-winner, of which he didn’t have time to revel in. “I had to get back on defense because I couldn’t get too comfortable or else they were going to come back.”
Centralia missed a chance to tie or take the lead on the ensuing possession, as guard Brady Sprague missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free-throw situation.
Centralia was forced to foul multiple times over the next several seconds to stop the clock and put Aberdeen at the free-throw line.
The Bobcats missed the front end of both their bonus chances in the final 10 seconds of the game, giving Centralia one final desperation heave for victory.
Ballard received an inbound pass and winged a three-quarters court shot wide-right at the buzzer as the Bobcats escaped with the all-important win.
“The thing that we were trying to do in our pregame is break bad habits, and the bad habit Aberdeen basketball has had is right when we get to the precipice of taking that next step, we take a step or two back,” Coach Brooks said. “Tonight was us knowing the adversity was going to come, withstanding that adversity and still remaining a part of the game, playing hard and getting the win.”
Aberdeen was led by the trio of Garcia, Brooks and junior Baylor Ainsworth with 10 points apiece.
Both Brooks and Ainsworth had double-doubles with 14 and 10 rebounds, respectively, while Miller added nine points for the Bobcats.
RYAN SPARKS / THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen’s Baylor Ainsworth, left, scores two of his 10 first-half points in the Bobcats 50-49 win over Centralia on Tuesday in Aberdeen.
Ballard led all scorers with 21 points while Vallejo added 12 for the Tigers.
With the victory, Aberdeen is in a fourth-place tie with Shelton for the league’s final playoff spot. Both teams are now two games ahead of Rochester and three games behind third place W.F. West.
“That’s been our goal. On our board it says, ‘We’re taking top four.’” Coach Brooks said. “There are certain games we know we have to win, and tonight was one of those games. So they had to play well and they practiced well for the past week-and-a-half. Tonight was the culmination of the hard work they’ve been putting in and playing well together. I hope we can carry that forward and get that fourth seed.”
Garcia said the victory shows how resilient the Cats can be.
“It shows that we are warriors and we won’t back down for anything,” he said. “Bobcats don’t back down.”
Aberdeen plays at first-place Tumwater at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
Centralia 14 7 13 15 — 49
Aberdeen 11 19 12 8 — 50
Scoring: Centralia — Ballard 21, Vallejo 12, Yeung 8, Sprague 6, Haines 2. Aberdeen — Ainsworth 10, Brooks 10, Garcia 10, Miller 9, Ambrogiani 5, Dawson 4, Anderson 2.
