HENRYVILLE — Sometimes, one is all it takes.

Borden’s Brandon Beam hit one of his three free throw attempts with 2.5 seconds left Saturday to give the Braves a 53-52 come-from-behind Southern Athletic Conference road win at Henryville.

“I told the team with about three minutes left that if we make our free throws we’ll win the game,” Borden coach Doc Nash said. “We didn’t, but these kids never stopped believing in themselves, and I’m proud of them to come in here and get a win.”

Borden (4-7, 3-1 SAC) trailed by as many as 10 points in the third quarter and trailed 43-36 entering the final period.

Things then changed rather quickly.

Beam nailed a 3-pointer, leading things off, to cut the lead to four.

On the ensuing inbounds play for Henryville (8-7, 1-2), the Hornets’ Taylor Weeks went to the scorers table, heard a horn and went in. But the horn was inadvertent, resulting in a technical foul.

Beam then hit both free throws to cut the lead to two. Borden then got possession of the ball, which led to a baseline jumper from Jacob Rich.

In one trip down court — and only 1:04 elapsed from the clock — the game was tied.

Borden later took its first lead since 2-0 on another Beam trey that made it 46-45. Dalton Wagoner then hit 1-of-2 free throws to put the Braves up two. After Beam then missed the front end of the bonus, Steven Mayfield’s basket tied the score at 47-47.

Mayfield converted a 30point play to put the Hornets on top 50-47, but Wagoner came back with a 3-pointer to tie the score at 50 with 1:36 left. Weeks’ basket gave Henryville their last lead at 52-50 as Wagoner answered again, this time with two free throws with 51 seconds left.

Both teams then traded turnovers. Following a Henryville timeout, Taylor Stone missed a 3-point attempt,but Wagoner was there again for the rebound.

Kyle Robertson then fouled Beam behind the arc. He made the first, then missed the next two.

Down a point with 2.5 seconds to play, Henryville inbounded the ball and immediately called timeout. After a total of four timeouts were called, Henryville inbounded the ball, but Mayfield’s 3-point attempt from the top of the key rimmed off as the buzzer sounded.

“We gave up three points on two bogus technical fouls,” Henryville coach Perry Hunter explained. “But that didn’t cost us the game.”

Hunter was referring to another technical foul that was called with 45 seconds left in the first half following a whistle at the Borden end of the floor.

“I asked him what happened, and he (official) said that both players fouled,” Hunter said. “I then said, ‘Well, call a foul on both of them’, and he gave me a technical.

“And on the other one, Weeks screwed up. He heard a horn and was on the floor. In that situation, give the kid a break. I’m not going to say Borden outplayed us tonight, but they were smarter than we were and deserved to win.”

Beam led Borden with a game-high 21 points. Wagoner added 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Weeks led Henryville with 15 points. Robertson added 13 points, 11 of those coming in the first quarter where the Hornets held a 13-10 advantage.

“I don’t think they changed anything on him,” Hunter said. “A lot of times, we stop ourselves. We forget what brings us success.”

“We switched defenses at the start of the fourth quarter,” Nash said. “I don’t think it bothered them, but it was something different. We didn’t change anything on Robertson. Our scouting report said that we wanted to let them shoot 3’s. The kids bought into it, but I don’t think they had a lot of open ones.”

Both teams will resume action Friday at home. Borden will host Orleans, while Henryville hosts South Central in an SAC contest.

“We’re 3-1 in the conference,” Nash said. “The ball is still in our court for us to put another banner up.”

 

BORDEN 10 17   9 17—53

HENRYVILLE 13  19 11   9—52

Borden (4-7, 3-1 SAC) — Wagoner 15, Jackson 2, Rich 4, Beam 21, Little 4, Kirchgessner 7.

Henryville (8-7, 1-2 SAC) — Robertson 13, Mayfield 9, Wolf 2, Weeks 15, Stone 5, Carlson 4, Gardner 4.

3-point field goals — Borden 6 (Beam 4, Wagoner 2); Henryville 5 (Robertson 3, Stone, Weeks).

Rebounds — Borden 23 (Wagoner 12); Henryville 20 (Mayfield 5).

Turnovers — Borden 14, Henryville 12.

Junior Varsity — Henryville 34, Borden 31.