BORDEN — Both of the first-round games of the Class A Borden Sectional went into the final minute on Wednesday night — with Rock Creek Christian and Henryville coming out on top to advance to Friday’s semifinal round.

In the opening game, the Lions got a putback basket from senior forward Dontale Mayes with 12 seconds left to break a 36-36 tie and Keontez Malone iced the game with a pair of free throws with 1.1 seconds left as the Lions earned a 40-36 victory.

In Game 2, Henryville never could shake away from hot-shooting New Washington. But the Hornets were able to hold the Mustangs off the scoreboard over the final minute-plus as they survived for a 47-43 victory.

Rock Creek and Henryville will play for a spot in the championship round in the second game at about 7:30 p.m. on Friday. South Central and Lanesville will play in the first game at 6 p.m. The Hornets earned a 49-40 victory over the Lions back in January.

“Without having much time to think about them until right now, it’ll be another tough one,” said Henryville coach Perry Hunter. “They’re still big and they’re getting more consistent play from their guards right now, so we’ll have to turn it around and get ready pretty quick for what should be a very tough game.”

 

ROCK CREEK-BORDEN

Mayes grabbed teammate Jon Ashby’s missed runner off the rim and put it back in off the glass. After Borden turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, Malone put the game out of reach as the Lions ended Borden’s two-year run of sectional titles.

It was the first field goal of the night for Mayes, who did not start and had missed the past few weeks with an injured ankle.

“Dontale did what he needed to do there,” said Rock Creek coach Chris Brown. “We took advantage of our strength on the offensive glass to come make the pivotal play.”

Malone hit one of the game’s most pivotal shots with just under two minutes to go. After Brandon Beam gave the Braves just their second lead of the game at 34-33 with 2:05 to play, Malone drilled a 3-pointer from the left corner on the Lions’ next possession to put Rock Creek right back on top.

“We’ve had our struggles in close games all year,” said Brown. “Tonight was one of the first ones in a long time where we made the key shots at the end and came out on top.”

Shawn Austin finished with 15 points and five rebounds and Malone totaled 10 points for Rock Creek (13-9). Beam was Borden’s top scorer with 13 points, while Jacob Rich and Billy Kirchgessner had eight each for the Braves (6-13).

 

HENRYVILLE-NEW WASH

With the score knotted at 42-42, Henryville’s Taylor Stone converted a pair of free throws with 1:20 to play to give the Hornets the lead for the final time in the contest.

New Wash’s Chris Radford had a chance to tie it with 1:09 to go, but he missed the second of two free throws.

After Kyle Robertson went 2-for-2 at the line with 50.2 seconds left, New Wash was unable to get off a 3-point attempt on the next possession and Jesse Woods jumper misfired and was rebounded by the Hornets.

D.J. Carlson then made 1-of-2 at the line for the final point of the night, sending Henryville to its first sectional win since 2007.

“Since I’ve been here, when we play New Washington it doesn’t ever seem to be lopsided one way or the other,” Hunter said.

Steven Mayfield and Taylor Weeks combined for 29 points and Henryville was able to overcome New Wash’s nine 3-pointers.

Mayfield finished with 15 points and Weeks had 14 for the Hornets (11-10).

The Mustangs’ Devin Freels led all scorers with 17 points, hitting 4-of-6 attempts from 3-point range. Freels’ first basket of the night, a 3 from the right wing in the first quarter, gave him 1,000 points for his career in just his third season at New Wash.

“Freels is a great shooter and I don’t use that term very often,” said Hunter. “If you lose him for even a second, he’ll get his shot off. We really had to work to limit him as much as we could.”

Jesse Woods came off the bench to hit four 3s and score 12 points for the Mustangs (7-15).

 

CLASS A BORDEN SECTIONAL

FIRST ROUND

ROCK CREEK    6 10 10 14—40

BORDEN    4  8 14 10—36

Rock Creek (13-9) — Ashby 4, Hawn 4, Malone 10, Austin 15, Garner 2, McGregory 3, Neptune 0, Barker 0, Mayes 2.

Borden (6-13) — Beam 13, Little 0, Kirchgessner 8, Jackson 4, Wagoner 3, Ellis 0, Rich 8.

3-point field goals — Rock Creek 5 (Malone 2, Hawn, Ashby, McGregory); Borden 4 (Rich 2, Beam, Wagoner)

Rebounds — Rock Creek 27 (Austin 5); Borden 24 (Wagoner 7).

Turnovers — Rock Creek 16, Borden 18.

 

HENRYVILLE    10 14 8 15—47

NEW WASH     9 14 8 12—43

Henryville (11-10) — Stone 2, Weeks 14, Robertson 3, Mayfield 15, Wolf 2, Carlson 8, Everage 3, Gardner 0, Boyd 0.

New Washington (7-15) — Freels 17, Krohn 5, Woods 12, Ramer 2, Bowman 0, Wiggam 0, Bower 0, Radford 7.

3-point field goals — Henryville 3 (Mayfield, Weeks, Carlson); New Washington 9 (Freels 4, Woods 4, Krohn).

Rebounds — Henryville 26 (Everage, Mayfield 5); New Washington 23 (Radford 5).

Turnovers — Henryville 10, New Washington 10.