Brown’s clutch shot sends Meadows boys past Agassi Prep
Humble to the end, Austin Brown was quick to say he had made “no hero play” for The Meadows’ boys basketball team.
The teammates who swarmed to congratulate the senior guard seconds later might beg to differ.
Brown hit an open turnaround jump shot from the free-throw line with 3.1 seconds left to give the Mustangs a 72-70 Class 2A Southern League victory at Agassi Prep on Saturday.
“It feels good. We needed that win,” said Brown, who scored 14 points. “We lost to (Agassi Prep) the first time around but got this one back. Now we’ve got to keep pushing it at practice, come back strong and win these next few games to make it into the playoffs.”
With the score tied at 70 in the final seconds, Brown flashed from the baseline to the free-throw line, where he took a pass from Garrett Gosse, spun around and hit nothing but net.
Agassi Prep (11-6, 8-2 2A Southern) was unable to get a shot off in the final 3.1 seconds as The Meadows (12-7, 6-4) held on for its biggest win of the season.
“The (final) play was designed for Garrett to come off a high ball screen and either knock down the shot or hit Austin,” Mustangs coach Gary Hannig said. “He hit Austin, and Austin knocked it down.”
Three of The Meadows’ four league losses have come by four or fewer points, including a 59-55 home loss to Agassi Prep. Hannig said he was most proud of the way his team finished strong.
“We feel we’re as good as anyone in the league, we really do,” Hannig said. “You’ve got to win some of those close ones to build confidence, and hopefully this does that.”
Brown’s winning jumper came after Agassi Prep center Anson Williams hit a 3-pointer from the right corner to tie the game at 68 and then scored on a put-back to tie it at 70 with 31.8 seconds remaining.
Gosse led the Mustangs with 25 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Gosse led the Mustangs with 25 points, six rebounds and six assists.
The Meadows’ Max Newman poured in 24 points, including 13 in the third quarter. The junior guard hit three 3-pointers as part of a 13-5 third-quarter run the Mustangs used to build a 53-47 lead.
Williams paced Agassi Prep with 22 points. Quincy Brown had 15 points and 16 rebounds for the Stars, and teammate Curtis Watson tallied 13 points, 10 rebounds and two steals.
