HAMILTON — For nearly two hours, the Lakota West High and Turpin High School boys basketball teams thrilled a capacity crowd with a high-octane display.
In the end however, it was the Firebirds trudging to the locker room, stunned, as the Spartans celebrated with a raucous student section at the other end of the court.
The 11th-seeded Spartans withstood a huge West rally, snaring a 58-55 Division I sectional win Tuesday at Hamilton High.
“We don’t pass the eyeball test, but we have a good basketball team,” Turpin coach Brad Cupito said. “(West) is a very good team with bonafide Division I players.”
West almost overcame a 15-point, fourth-quarter deficit, but was done in by poor free-throw shooting, including two misses down 57-55 with 3.7 seconds left.
West, which finished the season 15-7, managed only 7-of-14 from the line in the final stanza and 16-of-29 for the game.
“We have tried everything we can but eventually you have to step up and make them,” West coach Sean Van Winkle said. “But we were off all night. We did things tonight we haven’t been doing, but give credit to Turpin for making us play that way.”
West had no answer for Turpin’s Zach McCormick, who led all scorers with 23 points. McCormick also had one of the game’s biggest sequences when he scored five points in the final six seconds of the third. He made a layup before stealing the inbounds pass for another basket while drawing a foul.
The play gave Turpin a 47-33 lead entering the final stanza, a lead West closed to 56-55, but missed two looks and two freebies in the final minute that would have given the Firebirds the lead.
Mitch Stevens added 13 points for the Spartans, who improved to 20-2 and advanced to face Moeller in Saturday’s sectional finals.
West was led by Monty Boykins’ 16 points. Tyler Williams had nine of his 14 in the fourth and Ali Barnes added 13.
“I know we have some negativity now, some hurt due to the loss, but this has been an extremely rewarding season,” Van Winkle said. “We played hard tonight and represented ourselves well. Give credit to Turpin.”