Dalton Hayes had to watch patiently (for the most part) from the bench in the first half, then found himself on the court – heart pounding – in the final minute of regulation.
Hayes didn’t want his Crane High School basketball career to end Saturday at Drury’s O’Reilly Family Event Center, so the Pirates senior made what proved to be the game-winning free throws with 18.4 seconds remaining to give the Pirates a 49-48 victory over Greenwood and a trip to the Class 2 state final four next week in Columbia.
“Being a senior, that’s one of the scariest things you can see – when you’re down with less than a minute left in the game,” Hayes said about Crane’s 48-47 deficit. “The clock’s ticking, everything’s going so much faster than normal. It’s one of the scariest things ever.”
It’s Crane’s third trip to state in program history. The Pirates won a state title in 2011 under current Pierce City girls’ coach Rob Guerin,then took third in 2015.
Crane (19-10 overall) has experienced no shortage of ups and downs this season, but the Pirates have showed a knack for winning close games in the postseason. The Pirates (minus Dalton Hayes) slipped by Billings 55-52 in the district semifinals and got a game-winning basket in the final seconds to defeat Marionville for a district championship.
Earlier this week, Crane hammered Pierce City 65-42 in the sectional round.
“It’s been a season where things weren’t what we expected – there were several reasons for that – but going into districts we talked about, ‘We’re not playing for each other. We’re playing for Crane,’” said Pirates coach Craig Campbell. “We’ve got a tradition and we’ve got to uphold it. We’ve got to leave a legacy ourselves. The boys have embraced that and that’s kind of how they’ve been playing ever since.”
Crane faces Harrisburg (22-8 overall) in the Class 2 state semifinals at 5 p.m. Thursday, March 9 at Hearnes Center in Columbia.
“Us juniors and seniors, we were on the (2015) state team, but we didn’t really play so it didn’t feel like we were a big part of it,” Hayes said. “To be a big part of it now with all of us playing, it’s amazing. You realize this could have been your last game and now you’re going to state and playing two more games, it’s a great feeling.”
Senior Julius Walker led Greenwood with 29 points and 10 rebounds.
Greenwood had a chance to go up three with under 30 seconds remaining, but the Blue Jays missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw situation. Hayes drove and drew a foul on Crane’s ensuing possession, making both free throws to give the Pirates a 49-48 lead.
“I was afraid (Greenwood) was going to foul Hayes before he got to the basket. I think that’s what they were trying to do since they had a foul to give,” Campbell said. “He got to the free throw line. Being a senior, I had a feeling he was going to make (the free throws).”
Greenwood missed a 3-point attempt with less than 10 seconds left on the clock. Crane was fouled but missed the ensuing one-and-one with four seconds remaining. Greenwood got the ball up to mid-court and called timeout with .8 seconds remaining, but a desperation 3 at the buzzer failed to hit the rim.
Hayes had given Crane a 47-46 lead on a jump shot with three minutes remaining, but Greenwood’s Julius Walker scored on a putback to put the Blue Jays back in front by one (48-47).
Hayes scored 12 for Crane, 10 coming in the second half. Wyatt Vaught led Crane with 13 points, all coming in the first half. He made four 3-pointers.
Vaught’s first-half contributions were much-needed after Hayes committed his second personal foul less than three minutes into the game and sat out the remainder of the first half.
Hayes’ faith in his teammates grew while he was on the bench.
“At first, when I got my second foul, I was really frustrated,” Hayes said. “That I watched and realized: I have some of the best teammates a player could ever ask for. When I was sitting out, they came in and stepped up big time. Braydon Cook became the leader, Deven White and Colton Elder were doing their thing down low. I have some of the best teammates.
“(Sitting out with foul trouble) didn’t really bring me down like I thought it would. It gave me confidence for when I came back into the game.”
Crane led for most of the first half, but Greenwood used a 12-2 surge to go in front 37-34 in the third quarter after a Wesley Bergen 3-pointer. The Pirates responded by scoring eight straight to close the third quarter and took a 42-37 lead into the fourth.
Another Bergen trey tied the game at 44, setting the stage for a back-and-forth final five minutes.
Walker scored 16 in the first half for Greenwood and had six of Greenwood’s 11 fourth-quarter points.
“In the half-court, there’s not a whole lot you can do to stop him,” Campbell said. “You just hope you can make him shoot over the top of you. If he misses shots, you get the boards. First half, that’s what hurt us – he got a lot of his own rebounds. Second half, we did a better job.”
Greenwood finishes 25-4 overall and graduates four senior starters in Walker, Bergen, Tony Brandt and Garrett Nau. The Blue Jays, who won their first district title since 2005 last weekend, were seeking their first trip to the state final four since 1991.
Campbell is in his second season as Crane’s head coach, but he already had experienced a memorable game at Saturday’s venue. Campbell was an assistant coach on a Gainesville team that lost 53-50 to Crane in the 2015 Class 2 state quarterfinals.
“I was telling my assistant coach today, ‘I don’t want to feel like I did coming here two years ago. I want to be on the winning side,’” Campbell said. “My goal when I came here was to carry on the winning tradition at Crane.”
Crane 49, Greenwood 48
Crane 19 11 12 7 — 49
Greenwood 13 10 14 11 — 48
Crane – Wyatt Vaught 13, Dalton Hayes 12, Colton Elder 11, Braydon Cook 5, Tyler Campbell 4, Deven White 4
Greenwood – Julius Walker 29, Wesley Bergen 9, Tony Brandt 6, Joseph Brock 4
