Owen Johnson got white hot at the right time for Cortland. He knocked down three 3-pointers in a one-minute, 26-second span and his final one put Cortland up 44-43 with 26 ticks left.
The Cortland faithful went into hysteria as the Purple Tigers took their first lead of the game.
Oh, and it erased a 21-point deficit.
Johnson’s trio of triples and plenty of other heroics capped a 26-2 fourth quarter, as Cortland turned a 41-20 deficit entering the fourth into a 46-43 win over cross-town rival Homer Thursday night at Cortland Jr./Sr. High School.
The junior scored all 11 of his points in the fourth, but his nine at the end made all the difference.
“I’ve been shooting threes good this year and I knew if I saw the first one go they were going to keep falling,” Johnson said.
Jaxson Gambitta also knocked down a triple between Johnson’s second and third. The crowd was rocking in the final 1:52 of the game when the comeback attempt became real, and Gambitta felt every ounce of energy coming from the stands.
“That was the loudest I’ve ever heard that gym in my entire life,” Gambitta said. “It was just feeding us. I don’t know how everyone else felt, but for me personally it felt like instant energy.”
Tyler Thomas played a huge role early on for Cortland, but his biggest play came late. After Johnson put the Purple Tigers up one, Homer’s Max Franco ended up handling the ball in a two-on-one fast break. Thomas stood in, drew a charge and knocked down a free throw on the other end after being fouled again.
“I was a little confused,” Thomas said. “We got up, then suddenly it’s a two-on-one, they’re coming toward the basket and I know I’m the only one back. We do heavy scouting and we know Max is pretty much all left-handed. Max is on his left side, I knew he wasn’t going to pass it up. I knew he was going to go up so I set myself and took that charge.”
Damauri Bell helped Cortland ice the game after stealing the ball on the ensuing Homer possession. He made the second of his two free throws with five seconds left, then Franco ended up with the ball with a chance to tie it. He took a leaning 3-pointer from the left corner that hit the backboard and back of the rim and didn’t fall.
Homer’s only points of the quarter came on a pair of Graydon Hickey free throws with 1:14 left.
The Trojans couldn’t handle Cortland’s pressuring man-to-man press in the fourth. Homer turned it over consistently or settled for quick, tough shots.
Homer head coach Ken Updike called three timeouts in the fourth to try and settle his guys down, but they couldn’t quite finish off the game.
“We spoke several times in the second half about limiting the number of possessions left in the game,” Updike said. “To do that we needed to be patient on offense and limit live-ball turnovers. Credit to Cortland for creating more possessions defensively to get themselves back into the game and make some big shots to win.”
Cortland was down 41-20 with no energy after three. The Homer students were cheering and directing Cortland students to look at the scoreboard after every chant they did, but the Purple Tigers pulled themselves together and got the win.
“It’s just trust in each other,” Gambitta said. “Last year we really struggled to have trust as a team and this year we came out and have really come together and we all trust each other. We hit big shots and we do big things.”
“Our bench energy definitely keeps us up,” Thomas added. “No one’s getting down on themselves. The bench is keeping our heads up and we know the game’s not over until it’s over.”
Cortland head coach Jeremy Milligan was losing his voice postgame and couldn’t believe the way his guys came back to win.
“I’m still trying to process what just went on on that basketball court,” Milligan said. “For the majority of that game, we had no business winning. Homer dominated play. I tip my hat to them. They shot the ball well, they defended well. Even when we got looks and Kaden (Durham) wasn’t blocking shots inside, we struggled finishing.”
“The kids believed in themselves and they believed in each other,” Milligan added. “They showed a lot of grit and perseverance. It was a huge character-building game for these guys to prove they can compete and can overcome anything that’s in front of them. Hopefully it’s a good life lesson as well, not just hoops.”
Durham, Ryan Beard and the rest of the Trojans dominated the first three quarters. Homer led 8-2 through a quarter, then Durham opened the second quarter with a high-flying poster dunk. A few minutes later, Beard knocked down a 30-footer and started celebrating with his bench. It appeared as though the rout was on.
Homer limited Cortland’s transition opportunities early thanks to a lack of live-ball turnovers. While those came back to bite the Trojans late, Updike thinks that and his team’s defense led to the big lead.
“Defensively, I thought we played well enough to win,” Updike said. “The boys collectively take pride in how they defend. I’m proud of their effort, attitude and execution related to all aspects of how they defended.”
Milligan knew Homer would try something different, but wasn’t expecting Updike to have his guys in a man defense. Cortland has done well against man this year, but struggled for three quarters Thursday night.
“I was surprised that Homer came out and played man-to-man,” Milligan said. “We did a lot of prep for zone, but we also talked about the fact that we thought Homer was going to try something new. Typically, we’ve done pretty well against teams that have done man-to-man against us, but we just struggled.”
Gambitta paced Cortland with 13 points, Johnson added 11, Thomas scored eight, Bell and Caden Albright each had five and Zach Muir and Cal Albright scored two apiece. Cortland shot 13-for-37 from the field in the second half after a 4-for-27 showing in the first half.
Beard topped Homer with 12 points, including four made triples. Durham notched 12 points, Jack Brady pitched in seven, Franco had four and Brycen Poole and Hickey had two apiece.
Cortland is now 10-3 and one year removed from a 4-16 record. With most of that team back, the Purple Tigers feel they’ve finally proven with Thursday night’s comeback that they’re as legit as their record says.
“I feel like a lot of people saw us go on a win streak and saw we were having a good season and they’re like, ‘Is Cortland really legit? Are they really that good,’” Thomas said. “I think that fourth-quarter comeback shows that we’re not just a fluke. We’re a good team that plays together. We’ve learned a lot since last year and we’re a lot better team.”
Cortland will look to keep the good times rolling at 1:45 p.m. Saturday at home against Pulaski. Homer, now 3-9, will play again at 6:45 p.m. today at Fulton.
