Louisiana sinks buzzer-beater to beat North Callaway boys basketball

North Callaway's Matthew Weber dribbles the ball against Louisiana Wednesday night at North Callaway High School in Kingdom City. (Mexico Ledger/Jeremy Jacob)
North Callaway's Matthew Weber dribbles the ball against Louisiana Wednesday night at North Callaway High School in Kingdom City. (Mexico Ledger/Jeremy Jacob)

In a game with 13 lead changes and seven ties, Louisiana stole a back-and-forth game from North Callaway boys basketball after Kenny McCormick drained a game-winning buzzer-beater 3.

As a result, the Bulldogs beat the Thunderbirds 50-47 in an Eastern Missouri Conference game Wednesday in Kingdom City.

Before Louisiana pulled off the stunning game-winning shot, North Callaway started the second half strong by going on an 11-6 run to begin the half. In that run, the Thunderbirds had four different players score.

Samuel Pezold gave North Callaway its largest lead at 10 points when he made a transition 3 after stealing the ball from the Bulldogs.

Following Pezold's shot from deep, Louisiana went on a 6-0 run, narrowing its deficit to four points at the end of the third quarter, 36-32.

Then, in the fourth quarter, McCormick took it upon himself to provide the offense the Bulldogs needed, landing back-to-back 3s on Louisiana's first two possessions. The latter of McCormick's makes from beyond tied the game at 38-38.

Before the game-tying 3-pointer, North Callaway held the most extended lead of either team, staying on top from late in the second quarter until McCormick's shot early in the fourth.

The Thunderbirds answered, regaining the lead after Jordan Fishburn knocked down two free throws. However, the Bulldogs tied it a few possessions later when Jack Logan hit both his attempts from the charity stripe.

Just like they did before, North Callaway answered on its ensuing possession. But, this time, it took a team effort, as Fishburn pulled down an offensive board before Gavin Rasmussen made a layup from a Pezold assist.

The teams exchanged baskets for the final few minutes before a travel call, and turnover ruined it for the Thunderbirds. While that happened in North Callaway's final two possession, Louisiana tied the game and scored the game-winning shot on its last two.

On that last possession, North Callaway's fans shouted "defense" as Louisiana passed the ball around until it called a timeout with 13 seconds left. During that timeout, North Callaway coach Matt Miller told his players to "Watch where (McCormick) is, and don't let him get the ball."

Well, the Thunderbirds let McCormick get the ball, and sure enough, he swished a left-corner 3 for the game-winner.

"He's their best spot-up shooter," Miller said. "He got loose, and we got a good close-out at him. He hit a tough shot. So tip your hat to him when those things happen. Credit to him making a really tough shot with a 6'3 kid closing out at him. I told the boys, 'It's gut-wrenching to lose that way.' It sure is. But we didn't lose the game on that last-second buzzer-beater. I mean, we had (a double-digit) lead at home, and we didn't do the things we needed to close the game out in fourth quarter."

Like the start of the contest, it was anyone's game in the first half, as there were 10 lead changes and four ties.

During the first half, Louisiana held Matthew Weber -- North Callaway's main offensive threat -- to just five points. The Thunderbirds also lost their starting point guard Braydn O'Neal with a knee injury late in the first quarter.

Even though that was the case, North Callaway had other players answer the bell. Isiah Craighead, who just returned from an injury last week, was one of them.

Craighead led the Thunderbirds with eight points in the first half, while Pezold and Aidan Martin had six points each.

"Yeah, sort of thing was to get the ball inside and try to get the ball inside," Miller said. "They were taking Matthew away, and so we're trying to go on the post or the high post. And we had some good success doing that. Move the ball, get the ball side-to-side. Got some guys cutting through the baseline. We hit them a couple of times and got some good easy buckets that way."

Unlike the first 16 minutes, Weber found ways to score in the second half, notching eight of his team-high 13 points.

"When he doesn't settle, he's really good," Miller said. "When he settles, he's out of sorts. When he's attacking the basket, good things happen usually."

On the defensive end, North Callaway defended against Louisiana well until the fourth quarter, when the Bulldogs scored 18 points -- the most for either team in a quarter. Before the fourth quarter, North Callaway held Louisiana to 11 points in the first quarter and 10 in the second and third.

Pezold led the Thunderbirds defensively with seven rebounds and four steals.

While the Thunderbirds had a solid night defensively, Louisiana had an even better one. North Callaway had just one player score at least 10 points, while the Bulldogs had three -- McCormick and Harrison with 12 points each and Logan with 10.

Louisiana was rewarded for its marginally better offense and defense, with the game-sealing shot at the buzzer.

"I think both of our teams do a good job of taking away the strengths of the other team," Miller said. "And so you got to make some in-game adjustments that way. Just two pretty evenly matched teams that are really competitive, and it was gonna be a four-quarter game. I told coach (Matt Smith) after the game that every time we play over the last couple of years, it's gone down to basically the last possession. So that's just kind of how it's been."

The Thunderbirds' loss drops them to .500 in their overall record and EMO play, 10-10 and 3-3. Louisiana improves to 14-8 overall and 3-3 in the EMO.

"It's tough to lose that way," Miller said. "We were playing good basketball at times. But this time of year against really good teams, and that's what we've been facing in the last two, three weeks. That's what we're gonna be facing rolling into districts -- teams with winning records that have been winning used to winning. We got to find a way not to lose games. We got to find a way to win games in the fourth quarter."

North Callaway will hope to end its four-game losing streak when it takes on EMO opponent Elsberry (15-6, 3-1) in the Indians' court warming game at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Elsberry.

"It's gonna be a tough one," Miller said. "Awesome record, win a lot of games and playing a lot of tournament championship games this year. We're playing at their place on their court warming night; there's gonna be a hostile environment. And they're tough, quick, athletic team. We're gonna have our hands full."