Robertsdale wins at buzzer

OZARK — It wasn’t the most picture perfect shot from a basketball standpoint, but no one at Robertsdale is complaining.

The Golden Bears’ Quenton Evans lofted a last-second off-balance shot under pressure, but hit it to give Robertsdale a dramatic 64-63 win over Randolph-Clay Monday at the Dothan Progress/Dothan Eagle/Southern Star Holiday Prep Classic sponsored by The Cochran Firm.

Evans’ game ending shot pushed Robertsdale (10-7) into today’s tournament. The two play at 5 p.m. at the Ozark Civic Center.

The victory also enabled Robertsdale to surpass its win total of nine from last year.

“This is a building block for us,” Robertsdale head coach Marshall Davis Jr. said. “Now, we are in the Final Four and we can play for one through four spots in a a prestige tournament like this. This is a great building block for this program.”

Evans, who had a game-high 23 points, provided the Bears with the opportunity to reach the Final Four, delivering to end an exciting final 16.7 seconds left.

Robertsdale led 63-62, but Randolph-Clay had the ball. The Red Devils got the ball into the hands of standout Ryan Spann, who penetrated and dished off to Timothy Stringer down low for a layup with eight seconds left.

The Bears quickly inbounded to Evans, who pushed it up the floor down the right side. He spun from his right to left then launched a shot just inside the 3-point arch with Randolph-Clay’s Cardaryle Curry in his face.

The shot sliced through the net right before the horn sounded, giving the Bears the win.

“I was determined not to go home, so I did what I had to do,” said an excited Evans of his game-winning shot. “I was happy the shot went down.

“I thought I had let it go too soon, but when I turned around, I saw it go in. I was happy it went in.”

Davis said he thought about a timeout as Evans brought it up court, but nixed the idea. He was glad he did.

“I was going to get a time out, but we got him the ball and I looked up and saw the clear court right here (in front of the bench) even though they got back,” Davis said. “I yelled to him to take it on in. I am just happy it went in.”

It was the second time this season Evans had a shot off the break to win a game in the final seconds. He did it against Spanish Fort earlier this month.

Evans, though, said this shot was bigger.

“This is a big win for us,” Evans said. “We get to play another tournament game. We will have to come out and play hard again.”

In addition to Evans’ 23 points, Robertsdale had 18 points from Brandon Ellis and 17 from Dionta Banks. Evans and Kent Langham both had seven rebounds.

Randolph-Clay (4-8) was led by Spann with 14 points and seven rebounds, Zuriel Muhammad with 13 and Janarius Mitchell and Stringer with 10 points each. Mitchell also had six rebounds.

Behind good offensive rebounding, Randolph-Clay led most of the first quarter, but Robertsdale, powered by Evans and Ellis, surged late in the period to take a 14-10 advantage.

The Bears began to deny the Red Devils the offensive rebounds in the second period and at the same time, started to heat up offensively. They scored off eight of nine possessions to build a 33-18 lead.

Evans had seven points and Ellis six to spark a 15-4 run that built the lead up.

Randolph-Clay, behind inside play, scored six of the last eight points before intermission to slice the margin to 35-24 at halftime.

Robertsdale maintained the lead throughout the third quarter, but Randolph-Clay surged at the end to cut it to six at 49-43.

The Red Devils then caught Robertsdale at 49 on a floater by Muhammad with 6:00 left.

From there the game was tied three times and the teams exchanged the lead five times, including the dramatic final two changes in the last 16.7 seconds left.