Johnson clutch down the stretch, hits game winner over Flyers

Championship Bracket

Consolation Bracket

LOCH SHELDRAKE, NY – Trailing by nine at intermission of the national fourth place game Saturday (3/14) at Paul Gerry Field House, the Herkimer Generals battled back to defeat the Sandhills Flyers 75-74 in overtime.

Herkimer (31-4, 17-1) led a total of one minute and 32 seconds in the game, getting big shots from Julio Galay (Bronx, NY) and Jamell Johnson (Rochester, NY). Both combined for 20 points in the game, but scored nine of the team's final 13 points.

Galay made a free throw with 11 seconds left in regulation to give the Generals their first lead of the game (65-64) after Johnson hit a big three-point basket in the previous possession to tie it at 64-64 with 30 seconds left. This followed with the Flyers at the charity stripe with one second left in regulation and a chance to win. The first foul shot was good, but the second was not. Securing the rebound for Herkimer was Ken Woodard (Bronx, NY), his seventh of the game, putting the game into overtime.

In overtime, a mini 4-0 run on shots made by Daniel Owens (Albany, NY) and Woodard gave Herkimer a 69-67 lead with 3:22 left. The lead quickly vanished after Sandhills' Craig McDaniel made two free throws with 1:34 left to tie the game at 71-71.

The final minute of overtime then belonged to Johnson, hitting two field goals for the Generals. Each gave Herkimer a lead over the Flyers, but the sophomore's final basket came with 15 seconds left with his team down by one point (74-73) after Flyers Tevin Stark hit a three pointer making it 74-73. Johnson's final basket gave him 13 points, scoring 10 in the game's final five minutes, helping Herkimer to its second fourth place finish at nationals in the past five seasons.

Joining Johnson in double figures Saturday was Woodard. The forward scored a season-high 30 points, making all 11 shots he attempted from the field. After Woodard, Owens score nine, Dantre Langhorne (Greenport, NY) scored eight, Galay scored seven, Carson Murphy (Mohawk, NY) scored four and Jallah Tarver (Schenectady, NY) scored four.

Score:

Herkimer Generals 75, Sandhills Flyers 74 OT

HERK (31-4, 17-1) Ken Woodard 30, Jamell Johnson 13, Daniel Owens 9, Dantre Langhorne 8, Julio Galay 7, Carson Murphy 4, Jallah Tarver 4 Totals: 33-13-75

SCC (27-8, 6-4) Tevin Stark 20, Thomas Hardy 15, Craig McDaniel 14, Will McNeill 7, Angelo Mays 6, Dominque Pass 4, Tony Harper 3, Kenneth Walters 3, Ishmael Baldwin 2 Totals: 28-22-74

3-point goals: Generals 4 (Johnson 3, Owens 1) Flyers 4 (Stark 2, McNeill 1, Walters 1) 

Halftime:

Sandhills 39-30

-Giorgio Varlaro