Gautier drops heartbreaker to Wayne County

Gautier did everything it wanted in the 5A state playoff contest against Wayne County, except hit the game’s last shot.

The Gators fell to Wayne County 26-25 Saturday night.

The War Eagles (18-12) scored over 80 points in their last two games. Gautier, though, grounded the Wayne County with their defense, forcing the Eagles to play a half-court game.

“We wanted to get them in a running game,” said Wayne County coach Kendrick Davis. “However, they did a really good job of keeping in their style and forcing us to play their style of game.”

Gautier (12-15) came out tentative, allowing the Eagles to run some in the first quarter with Christopher Flemming connecting on three treys.

“I thought we played really good defense in the second half,” Gators coach Keith McQueen said. “But we had too many turnovers and missed too many shots. We got the looks we wanted. We played good defense. We rebounded well. We kept them from running.”

The Gators’ defense kept the game close throughout. With 4:05 left to play, Xavier Chambers connected on a short jumper to give Wayne County a 26-25 lead. Neither team scored again. Wayne County held the ball for three minutes in an attempt to draw the Gators defense from their positions.

Over the last four minutes, the Gators turned the ball over three times and didn’t get a shot off until the end.

With four seconds left, Gautier worked the ball to Zavier Diamond. He took an open shot just inside the arc from the right side of the key. The bounced off the rim and into the waiting arms of Eagles guard William Gaines to seal the contest.

“He does a lot for us,” Davis said. “Scoring is not his forte, but he is an excellent ball handler and can guard a guard or a big man. That was a big rebound. Gautier does a really good job of attacking the basket. We played their style.

“We didn’t make our shots. We had to play a half-court defense and allow our defense to get us the win. But a lot of was Gautier. They play tough defense. (McQueen) does a great job with his players.”

B.J. Johnson led Gautier with a game-high 12 points. Diamond finished with 11 points as the duo scored all but two of Gautier’s points.

This story was originally published February 25, 2017 at 10:04 PM with the headline "Gautier drops heartbreaker to Wayne County."