Auburn’s last-second shot leaves Central with 50-49 defeat

With seven seconds separating the Central Red Devils from a Final Four appearance, Auburn’s Garrison Brooks delivered a shot that will not be soon forgotten around Phenix City.

With Central leading 49-48, Brooks caught an in-bound pass from under the basket with 11 seconds to go, drove to the rim from the free-throw line and finished with a layup. The Red Devils had seven seconds to answer, but the team’s final shot failed to find the rim.

After leading the majority of the game, the Red Devils left Montgomery with a one-point defeat in the Central Region finals.

Brooks had plagued Central to the tune of 13 points prior to the last play. What occurred for his last two proved to be too much for the Red Devils to overcome.

“Garrison became a beast,” Central head coach Bobby Wright said of the Tigers’ last offensive play. “He just willed himself in there. We knew they were going to try and get it to him, when he stepped back almost to the free-throw line, he received the ball and we let him get to the basket.”

“I saw the guy (defending), and I take a dribble with my right hand,” Brooks said. “I see him cheat and go ahead and jump really fast to that side, so I had to make a spin. I just want to thank God I hit it. I was scared I didn’t make it.”

The closing seconds overshadowed a strong showing from Central. The Red Devils seemed in control for the better part of the game with solid outings from Demarkus Lampley and Justyn Ross, who finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Central struggled to keep up with Auburn in the rebounding department through most of the contest, but that didn’t seem to slow the Red Devils down.

That is, until those woes coupled with other errors became too much late in the going.

It was only in the final minutes when Central became sloppy with its possessions, opening the door just enough for Auburn to slide in and steal the win.

Wright said his team didn’t dictate the tempo as it normally did, which he explained was a must given Auburn’s height advantage.

“With the lead in fourth quarter and our athleticism, we usually do a better job,” Wright said. “We took some bad shots and made a couple of turnovers. Before you know it, (our lead) just vanished on us.”

Those miscues left Ross and the others coping with what had just happened.

“It was very emotional,” Ross said. “It was in our hands, and it got taken away that easy.”

Wright said he congratulated his Red Devils when the clock hit all zeroes. He said for most, this season should have been a rebuilding year. While acknowledging his team ‘rebuilds’ rather than ‘reloads’, he said their last efforts of the 2016-2017 season showed there is plenty of potential that can be fulfilled in the future.

“Out of this loss comes some valuable lessons, especially to an inexperienced team like I have,” Wright said. “Hopefully, this just helps us to grow and get better.”

As Wright left the press conference room, he greeted those outside the door with the same resolve he had displayed repeatedly in his time leading Central basketball.

“We’ll be back,” Wright said.

This story was originally published February 21, 2017 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Auburn’s last-second shot leaves Central with 50-49 defeat."