Long Reach's DeVaughn Nowlin wasn't quite ready for his season to end.
Having watched Oakland Mills trim what was once a 16-point Lightning lead down to one with five minutes left in the fourth quarter of the opening round of the 2A South playoffs, Long Reach found itself in desperate need of a spark.
So Nowlin, a senior and the team's leading scorer, made something happen.
Stealing an inbounds pass and converting the ensuing lay-up, Nowlin gave Long Reach its first field goal in over eight minutes and started an 11-0 spurt that catapulted the Lightning to a 58-47 victory. After scoring just two points through the first three quarters, Nowlin scored nine of the 11 during the decisive run.
"I just needed something to go in and, I mean, the lay-up dropped," Nowlin said. "It's a lay-up, but that's what I needed to get going."
During the 11-0 run, Nowlin made two lay-ups, two foul shots and a 3-pointer. His clutch effort down the stretch, combined with strong play all night from Daquan Hargrove (12 points, 17 rebounds), Avery Allmond (11 points) and Darryl Taylor (10 points), helped lift Long Reach into the winner's circle.
It all spoiled a game-high 23 points from Oakland Mills' Antonio Manns.
The Lightning will now travel to Marriotts Ridge for a region quarterfinal match-up on Tuesday.
"It was gut check time there for a minute, but the guys had the confidence to turn this thing around," Long Reach coach Al Moraz Jr. said.
Long Reach played like an inspired group in the early going, starting the game on an 11-3 run and leading 18-10 after the first quarter. The advantage grew to double digits early in the second quarter, with Lightning point guard Jalen Brown leading the way with eight points and three assists in the first 10 minutes.
"The guys came out in a storm," Moraz said. "Darryl (Taylor) hit some threes and Jalen played maybe the best quarter and half he's played all year."
But just as things were opening up, Brown hurt his ankle driving to the basket and was forced to leave the game. His absence wasn't immediately noticeable, with Long Reach opening up its largest lead of 16, 36-20, right before halftime.
However, Oakland Mills did begin having some success with its full-court pressure, setting the stage for what was to come after the break.
"I told them at halftime, they're going to make a run … you knew it was coming," Moraz said. "In their home gym, after we came in here and beat them on senior night, they weren't going down without a fight."
Sure enough, Oakland Mills came out of halftime with six straight points, all scored by Manns, and never slowed down. By the end of the third quarter, Long Reach had scored just four points and the Scorpions were back within four, 42-38.
"We had talked about that if (Jalen) wasn't going to be in there, that was our opportunity to put some pressure on," Oakland Mills coach Jon Browne said. "We really seized the moment and got ourselves back into the game."
Oakland Mills kept coming in the first three minutes of the final quarter, getting to within one point at 43-42. But with the chance to take the lead, Oakland Mills missed a lay-up and then made an errant pass that gave Long Reach back all the momentum.
"It was 43-(42), we had given up just five points in the second half and the momentum was ours," Browne said. "We just couldn't get over that hump. There were some shots that wouldn't fall for us, a couple bounces that didn't go our way. But really we just needed that one more basket to give us the confidence we needed to win this game."
Before Oakland Mills could get that basket, Nowlin came through with his steal and lay-up that made it 45-42 with 4:51 remaining in regulation. Then 50 seconds later, he calmly hit a three from the left wing.
It was all part of 11 straight Long Reach points that essentially sealed the game.
"We talked about it with (DeVaughn) in the timeout, telling him 'this is your last go man, it's time to step up,' " Moraz said. "And him getting that turnover and basket lifted us big time. He got us some emotion and that energy we had been missing."
Long Reach 58, Oakland Mills 47
LR (12-7, 14-9): Hargrove 12, Allmond 11, Nowlin 11, Taylor 10, Brown 8, Leconte 4, Nwankwo 2.
OM (6-13, 8-15): Manns 23, Dent 9, N. Zayatz 7, Tapscott 5, Bradley 2, Lee 1.
Half: 38-26 LR.
Other scores:
Reservoir 49, Mt. Hebron 45 (3A East)
After falling behind for the first time all game with 1:30 left in regulation, 45-44, Reservoir sophomore Kyle Reilly stepped up and hit the biggest shot of his varsity career. His 3-pointer from the corner with just over 50 seconds left ended up being the game-winning basket in what goes down as the boys basketball program's first playoff victory.
"This group has grown so much as a team and as individuals," said Reservoir coach Ryan Carson, whose team has now won five of its last six games decided by five points or less. "Having experience with close games definitely helped tonight, especially being on the road."
Re (9-10, 12-11): Toler 2, Sponsky 2, Williams 4, Usher 4, Christian 6, Epps 7, Reilly 10, Booth 14.
MH (8-11, 9-12): Glaze 3, Woodard 12, Moses 15, Gilmore 15.
Half: 29-20 Re.
Howard 52, River Hill 42 (3A East)
Ho (6-13, 7-16): Alexander 16, J. Bartnik 14, Wendt 10, Dyer 8, Marsh 4.
RH (4-15, 4-19): Thomas 16, Moody 12, Sandler 5, Jimenez 5, Shin 2.
Half: 30-20 Ho.
McDonough 89, Glenelg 82 (2A South)
M: Austin 22, Kennedy 17, Bess 15, Cheaves 13, Pinkston 13, Rogers 8, Womack 1.
G (6-13, 6-17): Tolbert 27, Spurrier 21, Livak 8, Dubbe 7, Chahine 6, Randle 5, Mullinix 4, Hammert 2, Mirano 2.
Half: 45-33 M.