Mason County coughed this game up. Led 59-50 with 4 minutes to play and took bad shots and turned the ball over. Augusta made the plays and finished the game.

From the halfway point of the 2nd quarter until the final seconds, there was never a moment that I thought Augusta could win. It was 24-20 Mason with about 4:00 left in the 1st half, then Mason went on a 10-0 run to go up 34-20. Panthers did score the 2nd quarter's final 6 points to make it 34-26 at the break.

 

Mason goes up by as many as 13 in the 3rd, then Augusta closes it to 5, then Mason comes back and takes a 51-41 lead into the 4th.

 

Royals again lead by as many as 13 points with 4:58 left in the contest. It's 59-50 when Connor Maddox gets a basket to make it 59-52. Maddox then drains a long 3 to cut it to 59-55 with 1:40 to play. Royals call a nice play out of a timeout to get a Conner Sweeney basket: 61-55. Maddox then hits an even longer 3 to make it 61-58 & Augusta calls a timeout with exactly 1:00 left.

 

Royals turn it over on the inbound pass & Owens Crawford drains a 3 from the right wing to tie it at 61 with 38.8 left. Mason calls for time, and they come out of it holding the ball for the last shot. I believe Pig Williams turned it over, and Augusta got the ball with plenty of time left. Owens Crawford started to penetrate, then Jaylen Lofton knocked the ball loose. Ball gets tipped to the left corner, where Tanner Pugh has just enough time to collect it & throw up a quick 17 or 18 footer that's good as the buzzer sounds.

 

It was an absolutely crazy finish. The Bach game from two years ago was a wild one as well, and as crazy as it sounds, this one may have topped that one.

Mason had this game for about 29 minutes and continued to play at a fast pace which led to several turnovers and some bad shots. Mason did not play as the score dictated and slow the pace. Our guards were good for most of the game but had 4 terrible turnovers and Pig shot an air ball three from the corner at a bad time. I believe this was the biggest give away game that I can remember.

Connor Maddox and Cam Snapp completely took over the 2nd half. Best atmosphere I've experienced since the 2010 regional championship between GRC and Mason. There's something about the heart that Augusta plays with. Down 59-50 with about 4 minutes to play, most teams would've given up but they never did. All in all, AMAZING game.

Here's a video for anyone who wants to see.

 

Fortuitous bounce to the shooter.

Augusta made the plays to win the game as they always do. But when Mason plays Augusta, the game is always the same way. Mason gets five within the first two minutes including two on Williams. Second half Augusta gets the first two fouls and the next seven against Mason. Mason never made the bonus either half. Free throws never beat us this game because we beat ourselves. Every Mason Augusta is always called the same way. Hard to figure out.

I have no words........ How fitting all the way around. Good kids, doing the right things, the right way is what makes it so great to me. Make sure your young kids don't miss this lesson of doing it the right way and succeeding.

Augusta made the plays to win the game as they always do. But when Mason plays Augusta, the game is always the same way. Mason gets five within the first two minutes including two on Williams. Second half Augusta gets the first two fouls and the next seven against Mason. Mason never made the bonus either half. Free throws never beat us this game because we beat ourselves. Every Mason Augusta is always called the same way. Hard to figure out.

 

Are you saying the officials did a good job or a bad job calling fouls correctly?

Garrison was hot. I'm still confused why he only took one shot in the 4th quarter. Feed the hot hand!!

 

Congratulations to Augusta!!

I am saying is not called correctly when touch fouls are called on one end and not the other. I probably need to look up and see when was the last time Mason shot more FT's than Augusta and Mason attacked the basket a lot. Garrison made 10 and eight was at the basketball and did not shot a FT. Maddox and Snapp attacks the basket and they shoot 12. Fouls were 19 to 10. I Guess our tall guys just foul those shorter players a lot.

Fortuitous bounce to the shooter.

 

Yep! I'm thinking destiny. Isn't Milan a suburb of Augusta, just off of Old 19? What number is Jimmy Chitwood wearing? Is Brian Kirk's real name Raymond Dale?

Garrison was hot. I'm still confused why he only took one shot in the 4th quarter. Feed the hot hand!!

 

Congratulations to Augusta!!

 

Correction, Garrison was not hot. HE WAS SCORCHING!

Connor Maddox had 20 & Camryn Snapp 19 to lead Augusta.

 

Pig Williams & Isiah Garrison both had 20 for Mason County.

Garrison was hot.

 

Correction, Garrison was not hot. HE WAS SCORCHING!

 

Garrison had a heck of a game for Mason County.

 

I also think Dalton Perkins gave the Royals some really nice minutes in the 1st half. I kind of thought Mason County took control of the game after he was inserted. Augusta likes to attack the basket, and Perkins' presence in the paint made it tough for the Panthers to do that.

Our guards played great but had critical turnovers in the last few minutes for easy baskets for Maddox. Like seven straight points.