NASHVILLE — When the ball left Chris Deanes’ hand, overtime was a virtual certainty. With McCallie and Christian Brothers tied in Friday’s Division II-AA state tournament semifinal, the only remaining formality was for Deanes’ 70-foot heave to go awry as the buzzer blared.
Instead, the Purple Wave junior’s shot glanced off the front of the rim, bouncing high into the air, then dropped through the net.
Players, coaches and fans from both teams froze for a moment, before every set of eyes inside Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena turned to the three referees who looked at one another before lifting their arms to signal the shot counted, giving Christian Brothers a 58-55 victory.
“In 30 years of coaching I’ve never seen anything like that happen,” McCallie coach Dan Wadley said afterward. “I thought it hit the top of the backboard, but the officials said it didn’t. It’s just one of those things you could try 100 times and probably make it once. But they did it.”
Christian Brothers will play second-ranked Montgomery Bell Academy today at 6 p.m. EST in the state championship game. MBA (23-5) knocked off top-ranked Ensworth 84-80 in an earlier semifinal Friday.
“When I shot the ball, I just left my hand up there and I looked the ball through the rim, just like my coach has been telling me to do at practice,” said Deanes, who made both his 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, helping the Purple Wave rally.
“I just wanted to get off the court and out of here before they changed their minds,” Purple Wave coach Bubba Luckett added.
McCallie scored the game’s first 13 points, including three consecutive 3-pointers by Jordan Price to open the game. Price led all scorers with 21 points and made four of seven 3-point attempts. Freshman post Terrance O’Donohue scored all 11 of his points and got seven of his eight rebounds in the first half.
The Purple Wave chipped away at the deficit in the second half, helped by McCallie missing the front ends of one-and-one free-throw opportunities late in the game. The Blue Tornado also went without hitting a field goal for 3:23 of the fourth quarter, getting outscored 9-0 during that span.
Christian Brothers tied the game on Frankie Bougher’s 3-pointer with 2:19 remaining. Chris Bunkley then gave the Wave their first lead with two free throws with 45 seconds left, but Price tied the game with two free throws with eight seconds remaining.
Deanes opened the door for the Blue Tornado to win the game when he stepped out of bounds as he rushed the ball upcourt, but McCallie missed a shot. Once Deanes had the rebound, he turned and flung what became the game-winner, setting off hysteria for Purple Wave fans who rushed the court.
“I was walking back toward the bench, getting ready for overtime,” Price said. “I watched the ball bounce up high, then drop in. When the refs waved that it was good, it broke my heart.”