MOKANE - Senior guard Gabe Cash's layup with 3.5 seconds remaining put the No. 5 Thunderbirds in front to stay as they rallied for a dramatic first-round win over the No. 4 Lions at the South Callaway Invitational Tournament on Tuesday night.
North Callaway (4-6) trailed 40-27 at halftime and was down by 18 points early in the third quarter, but outscored Calvary Lutheran 23-15 in the period to pull within 55-50 entering the fourth quarter.
The contest was tied at 62-all with under :10 to play when Thunderbirds junior guard Cody Cash forced a turnover and fed a pass to Gabe Cash for the go-ahead layup. The Lions were then assessed a technical foul when they tried to call a timeout with none left.
Gabe Cash proceeded to hit 1-of-2 free throws with :03.2 left to make it 65-62 and was then fouled on the ensuing inbound pass. He connected on 1-of-2 free throws again to punctuate North Callaway's stirring comeback.
Cody Cash logged a game-high 23 points and Gabe Cash followed with 22 points and handed out nine assists. Senior forward Tanner Taylor grabbed six rebounds for the Thunderbirds.
Ian MacLaughlin knocked down six 3-pointers in the first half in tallying 18 points to pace Calvary Lutheran (8-5). Trevin White also provided all 16 of his points in the first half.
North Callaway shut out both MacLaughlin and White in the second half by applying a triangle-and-2 defense.
"It was a great come-from-behind victory by the guys - they played with a lot of grit," Thunderbirds head coach Matt Miller said. "The team did a heck of a job running a defense we hadn't practiced since last year.
"They just kept after it (offensively) and got shots to finally start falling. We also got great production from players off the bench."
North Callaway's reward is a semifinal matchup against top-seeded Hermann at 6 tonight in the high school gym. Hermann easily advanced with a 76-22 rampage over No. 8 seed New Bloomfield in Tuesday night's first round.