Often injuries spell defeat, but last night an injury resulted in a switch that led to a 70-67 victory for No. 13 Annapolis (17-4) over North County (12-9) in overtime.
When Boo Diggs took an elbow that closed his right eye after he caught a Ronnie Johnson pass with eight seconds left, he was replaced by Jerray Slocum at the foul line.
Diggs' one-handed grab kept Johnson's rising pass from going out under the Panther basket and when he tried to go up for the shot he was fouled and hit the deck.
Slocum (10 points, 4-for-4 at the line, two steals) is a better foul shooter than the 6-foot-7 Diggs (11 points, 12 boards, one block and three steals).
Slocum sank both free throws with seven seconds left.
"We let [Derek Booth] get wide open for a chance to tie it again, but he missed it," said Annapolis coach John Brady. "Boo made a great catch, but his eye was practically closed and we had to put Jerray in."
Booth, a 6-foot-sophomore, buried two three-pointers in the final 44 seconds, the last from 30 feet out with two seconds left to force the host Panthers into overtime.
Baskets by Lou Brown (15 points, six boards, five steals) and Maurice Bowie (nine points, 13 rebounds) gave North County a four-point lead in the first two minutes of the four-minute overtime.
With 1:37 left, Ryan Dacey, who had 17 points, hit a three-pointer and followed it with a put-back off a Len Barber miss to give Annapolis a 68-67 lead with 50 seconds remaining. Barber (15 points, 11 boards, four blocks) had stolen the ball at half-court and took it into the paint, missing an off-balance lay-in that Dacey tapped in.
At the other end, Brown missed a jumper and Johnson (12 points, six boards) grabbed the rebound, speeding across midcourt where he aimed for Diggs on the left side of the base line. Brown went to Booth on his left as he approached the key.
Booth's heave went over the rim as the buzzer went off.
"We've lost five like that this season," said coach Brad Wilson, whose Knights are going to the 4A East Region playoffs for the first time no matter what happens Friday at Meade.
"It would have been really big for us to win at Annapolis. We took a four-point lead in overtime, then turned it over, but the kids played well against a good team."
Annapolis, currently third seed in the region with a chance at No. 2, led 35-32 at the half. Diggs hit nine of his points in the third period as Annapolis went up 51-45.
The Panthers never trailed until overtime after taking the lead with 3:48 left in the first half.
North County stayed on the heels of the Panthers thanks to eight three-pointers, three each by Booth (nine points) and Tweety Barton (13 points, six boards), and 16 points from Cornelius Burley.