The looks on the Columbian players said it all Friday night.
After basically having the game won against visiting Lexington leading 51-48 with only 1.1 seconds on the clock, Lexington's Dantrell Hughes caught the inbounds pass and heaved a half-court shot.
It banked in ... sending the game into overtime.
Lexington had all of the momentum, but the Tornadoes were smiling, clapping even, because they knew they had four more minutes to play.
Plus, having the SBC Lake Player of the Year Logan Gooding certainly instilled some confidence too.
Gooding was spectacular with a game-high 33 points, including seven in the overtime as TC held on to win a Division III sectional title – 65-57.
“Yeah, he threw it up and it went in, but as soon as that shot went in it doesn't matter anymore,” Gooding said. “They were celebrating for about 40 seconds over there, the place went crazy, but we still had more minutes to play. It was just getting back to it, weathering the storm. I knew if they made the first couple of buckets it might've gotten ugly there (in OT) because they had a lot of momentum, but I think we did a great job weathering the storm.”
In the thrilling win, Gooding set the single-season scoring record, breaking the mark set by Tony Eisenhard.
“There's been a lot of great players that have gone through this program, so it means a lot,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I just want to win games and that's exactly what we did tonight. If we would've lost tonight, I wouldn't have given a dang about that record. It was good to get the win and go to districts.”
TC first-year coach Jac Alexander added about his special junior guard: “He's a high-IQ guy, and you don't get that all the time at this level, but he's one of those guys – we get along because we have a mutual respect for each other – and I can coach him however I need to and he will take it,” Alexander said. “That's the thing I'm most proud of him for because he can take some hard coaching from a kid that's not much older than him really.”
The game was tight throughout as Lexington led at halftime 20-19. Hughes had 14 of his 19 points in the opening half, while Gooding had only nine points heading to the break.
The Minutemen (9-14) were throwing whatever they could at Gooding, which led to open teammates, which Gooding found more times than not.
TC (12-11) built a 29-26 lead late in the third before Lexington went on a 9-0 run to pull ahead 35-29 with 1:17 to play in the third period.
But Gooding drilled a 3-pointer just before the buzzer, giving the Tornadoes some momentum and confidence heading into the fourth.
Lexington led 39-35 before TC went on a quick 9-2 spurt behind baskets from Blake Miller, Gooding and Blake Tucker before Nolan Miller splashed a huge trey to break a 39-all tie.
However, Lexington continued to fight as it tied the game at 46 after a Hughes layup with 1:48 left.
DaShawn Russell split a pair of free throws, so TC was ahead by a point, but after a Lexington missed shot, the Minutemen let almost a full minute wind off the clock before sending Nolan Miller to the line with 13.7 ticks left.
Miller hit both foul shots and then Jayden Perkins drove to the rim for a layup for Lexington with 2.5 seconds left.
It sent Gooding to the charity stripe with 1.1 left. He made both before the half-court prayer from Hughes went in.
“We've prepared for that moment all season long. We've been in tough, close games all season long,” Alexander said. “Our guys never quit, never wavered … I saw a look in our guys' eyes after they hit that shot and they said: 'Yeah, they got lucky for a new life, but we got one too.'
“We screwed up some of the game plan stuff, we could've shot free throws better (21-33), but down the stretch our guys made the right plays and our guys stepped up. Blake Tucker had a great second half, obviously Gooding, but Nolan Miller made some big shots and free throws too down the stretch.”
Perkins led Lexington with 21 points. Nolan Miller chipped in 11 points for the Tornadoes, while Tucker had nine points and Russell ended with eight points.
The win guaranteed a sectional title and an opportunity to play the No. 1 team in the state – Toledo Central Catholic (19-3). The district semifinal will be Thursday at Ontario, beginning at 8 p.m.
“They're the No. 1 team in the state for a reason and we know it's going to be tough, so we're gonna have to come out and play our butts off,” Gooding said about the challenge next week. But anything is possible, especially in basketball. Maybe they come out shoot bad, we shoot good, anything could happen in the tournament. We'll be amped up.”

Columbian 65, Lexington 57 OT
Lexington (9-14): Elijah White 1-0-2; Dantrell Hughes 8-1-19; Jayden Perkins 8-5-21; Azariah Roper 0-0-0; Ethan Bianchi 3-1-7; Dawson 2-0-4; Daniel Hudson 1-2-4. Totals: 23-9-57.
Columbian (12-11): Nolan Miller 3-4-11; Blake Miller 1-0-2; Jax Diamantopoulos 0-0-0; Logan Gooding 8-13-33; DaShawn Russell 2-3-8; DaZarius Russell 0-0-0; Blake Tucker 4-1-9; Parker Nye 1-0-2; Kyle Hepp 0-0-0. Totals: 19-21-65.
Lexington 10 10 15 19 6 – 57
Columbian 11 8 13 16 14 – 65
3-point goals: Lexington 2 (Hughes 2); Columbian 6 (Gooding 4, N. Miller, DaShawn Russell)
Foul shots: Lexington 9-15; Columbian 21-33
Turnovers: Lexington 16; Columbian 16

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