REPUBLIC, Mo. — Republic’s Devon McMillin made a layup at the buzzer to give his team a 60-59 victory over Webb City on Friday in a Central Ozark Conference boys basketball clash.
The Tigers trailed by one with five seconds left. Republic guard Ahlante Askew lost the ball near the foul line, dove on the floor to grab the loose ball and somehow hoisted a shot up in a crowd. McMillin caught the errant shot and laid in it at the buzzer.
Ranked sixth in Class 5, Webb City fell to 16-8 and 4-3 in the COC. Republic improved to 15-10 and 5-3 in the conference.
This one featured 12 ties and 19 lead changes.
There were four ties in the first quarter. Dante Washington went 3-for-4 at the foul line late in the opening frame to give Webb City a 17-16 advantage.
Cohl Vaden had 11 first-half points for the Cardinals and teammate Max Higginbotham hit a trio of 3-pointers in the second quarter, but the game was deadlocked at 33 at halftime.
The third period saw both teams trade the lead back and forth. A trey just before the buzzer by Higginbotham gave Webb City a 50-48 lead at the end of the third quarter.
The game was tied at 57 with 3:15 remaining.
Vaden’s hoop in the lane gave the Cardinals a 59-58 advantage before the two teams traded turnovers and empty possessions.
The Tigers missed a shot from the perimeter and then turned the ball over with 18 seconds left.
Up one, the Cardinals missed the front end of a one-and-one with six seconds left and Republic took a timeout with five seconds remaining before the game-winning bucket went in as time expired.
Webb City’s Trey Roets, Higginbotham and Vaden scored 15 points apiece to lead the Cardinals. Washington added eight points, while Roets had a team-high nine rebounds.
Webb City made 21-of-44 field goal attempts (47 percent).
Republic made 24-of-45 shots (53 percent).
Avery Moody led the Tigers with 19 points, while Brenley Hagewood scored 14. McMillin added 12 points and Askew had 10.
Webb City hosts Carthage on Tuesday night.
FULL STATS: Webb City HS (webbcitycardinals.com)
