RABBITTOWN — Mahki Brown was determined not to fail for a second time.
Trailing 64-63 with 7 seconds left, Brown curled around on an inbounds pass and banked in an easy layup to give the Vikings an eventual 65-64 win over Westminster Saturday night in the first round of the Class AAA playoffs.
The Vikings (21-7) had to survive a last-second alley-oop attempt by the Wildcats and Brown’s game-winner came moments after he had missed a layup on the exact same play that could have given East Hall a three-point lead with under a minute to play.
“We had run it before and got the easy look but couldn’t convert. We went back to it and they executed it perfectly,” East Hall coach Joe Dix said. “I’m so proud of these guys. It’s a young group overall.”
Brown, along with Tony Martinez, also helped knock away the last-ditch pass by the Wildcats with just a second left. He said he wanted another chance and Dix gave it to him.
“We believe in (coach) and he believes in us,” Brown said. “I was upset about missing that first one so I was not going to miss it again. I’m glad they had faith in me.”
The shot capped a frantic final two minutes that saw the lead change hands four times. The Wildcats' Will Hay broke a 60-60 tie and moments later Luke Cooper gave the Vikings a 63-62 lead on a long 3-pointer from the corner with 1:36 left.
Both teams had crucial turnovers in the next minute and East Hal's Sedrion Morse had a pair of free throw attempts roll of the rim. Westminster retook the lead with 30 seconds left when Paris Howland was left unguarded near the basket for an easy layup and a 64-63 lead.
But, the Vikings also forced another turnover to set up the game-winner to go with the defensive play to end the game.
“Overall I didn’t think we played very well,” Dix said of his No. 1 seed team against a No. 4 seed. “But we made some plays down the stretch and got a couple of key stops at the end.”
The Vikings next will play host to Islands, the No. 3 seed from Region 3 which upset Worth County 78-60 in the first round, on Thursday. A start time has yet to be determined.
Neither team led by more than eight points when the Vikings used an 8-0 spurt to grab a 51-43 with 1:45 left in the third quarter. But the Wildcats responded with a 14-3 run into the fourth quarter to reclaim the lead.
The Vikings answered that with a 6-0 run, highlighted by a Cooper 3-pointer with 3:09 left in the game. That set the stage for the thrilling finish.
Cooper finished with 19 points, including five 3-pointers, to pace the Vikings. Morse added 18 points and Brown finished with 15 for East Hall.
Howland led Westminster (12-17) with 17 points. Malcolm Strickland had 14 points and Mikael Sampson chipped in with 11 for the Wildcats.
It was a streaky first half for the Vikings. Westminster jumped out to a 4-0 lead but East Hall answered with an 8-0 spurt powered by 3-pointers from Lukes Holtzclaw and Cooper midway through the first quarter. Cooper added another 3-pointer two minutes later for a 13-9 East Hall lead but the Wildcats followed with a 9-0 run to grab an 18-13 advantage early in the second quarter.
East Hall answered that with a 5-0 run to tie the game but then fell behind again 26-22 as Will Damron hit a pair of treys. But the Vikings again answered with a 7-3 run to tie the game at 29. Westminster went back up 33-29 but the Vikings closed out the half on a 7-2 run, highlighted by a 3-pointer from Tony Martinez for a 36-35 halftime lead.
NOTES: Before the game, the East Hall community recognized “Mr. East Hall,” Buford Smith, for his years of loyalty and dedication to the East Hall program.
Smith can often be seen at the end of the bench waving a towel, and even operating some team manager duties.
Smith is a lifelong resident in the east Hall area and attended East Hall High School in 1970s. The team presented Smith with a poster of himself, a plaque citing his loyalty and dedication, and also a picture collage of him through the years with the East Hall program.
