LAMESA – The Grady Wildcats were one possession short of a miraculous comeback as Whitharral escaped with a 40-39 victory to win the Class A Regional Quarterfinal Tuesday night at O.W. Follis Gymnasium in Lamesa.
The only good thing that happened to Grady in the first half was Quint Harrell winning the tip. After that, the next 16 minutes was a barrage of bricks as Grady could not get anything to fall.
Whitharral was playing a very soft zone just daring Grady to chunk it up from the outside. Each time the Wildcats attempted, they missed and the Panthers were all over the rebound.
Colt Carson managed to corral one rebound and toss it back up for two points and Chapman Sims also ran down a loose ball and put it back up for another two points. Logan Aaron was the only other Wildcat to score and by halftime Grady found itself trailing 23-11.
The third quarter was a much better performance by Grady but Whitharral managed to outscore the Cats by two points to increase its advantage to 34-20.
With the season on the line, Grady upped its intensity and extended its defense to full court. The Wildcats forced several fourth quarter turnovers, started winning on the boards, and in the blink of an eye had cut the Panther’s lead to six points.
As the flustered Panther’s attempted the break the full court press, the point guard stepped out of bounds down the sideline but the ref missed the call leading to a wide open layup.
On their next possession, Whitharrel lost possession of the ball in the back court and was called for a 10 second violation. But hold on, as the ball was bouncing freely down the court another referee came running in overriding his partner and gave the Panther’s coach a timeout.
Whitharral was gifted another possession and managed to get fouled and make one free throw pushing its lead to 40-31 with less than a minute remaining in the game.
Grady wouldn’t give up and raced back down the floor looking to make a desperation three-pointer.
Austin Aaron went up for the shot and was undercut on the way down earning himself three free throws. The Panther’s guard called for the foul couldn’t control his emotions and was given a technical for his choice of words.
Grady was awarded five free throws and Austin Aaron stepped to the charity stripe like a boss and knocked down five straight making the score 40-36.
The technical foul gave the ball right back to Grady and on the ensuing inbounds play, Whitharral left sharpshooter Cobe Cortez wide open in the corner. Cortez made them pay with a perfect three ball making the score 40-39 with one second on the clock.
Unfortunately for Grady, the Panthers hurled the ball down court and ran out the clock ending the game and Grady’s season.
“This was a tough loss for our kids. We did not play the whole game like we would have liked too, but as I told the kids after the game, we cannot define our season on this one game,” stated Grady coach Chris Short. “At Christmas break we were 11-8 on the season. This group then went 12-2 and won the District Championship, Bi-District Championship and Area Championship.”
Short added, “I have never been more proud of a team that I have coached in my 30 years. I was able to witness a group of boys growing up to become young men. What a pleasure it was to coach this group. Very proud of all the players and with 9 of the 11 players coming back next year, we should be able to build off this great experience.”
Sims led Grady in scoring with 11 points and L. Aaron added eight.
A. Aaron finished the game with seven points followed by Cates with four, Carson four, Cortez three, and Harrell two.
Grady ends the season with a 23-10 record and the titles of District Champions, Bi-District Champions, and Area Champions.
Whitharral advances to the Regional Semifinals and will play No. 1 Texline.