With nine minutes to play Aug. 24, the Warriors, down 11 points to third-seed Cottonwood Auto Sales, faced the biggest deficit of the Yavapai-Apache Nation men’s basketball league championship game.
Seven three-point shots later, the league’s top seed had found its beast mode and forced overtime, where the Warriors would ultimately take home the title, 99-94.
“That was an awesome game,” said Darin Smith, Warriors head coach and Y-A Nation recreation coordinator. “We had a lot of fun out here.”
Camp Verde High School senior Reyes Herrera, following a scoreless second half, hit a baseline three-pointer to give the Warriors the lead for good with three minutes gone in the extra period.
“It was wild, man — crazy,” Herrera said. “They had us down, but everybody contributed, no doubt.”
Half a minute later, former Mingus Union High School guard Ashton Loring, whose three with 15 seconds remaining in regulation pulled the Warriors back within a point, scored the final two points of the night, sealing the game at the free-throw line with 25 seconds to play.
“We just shot good shots and they went in. Simple,” said Loring, who hobbled off the Middle Verde gym floor dripping with sweat after scoring 17 points on the night. “My legs are killing me.”
After being held scoreless for the first 25 minutes, Michael Sells stoked the Warriors rally with 16 points over the next 14 minutes.
“I was trying to adjust,” said Sells, who won his eighth men’s league title in the last nine years. “When I shoot, I spread my thumb out, and I can’t do that, because it hurts.”
Kevin Cox sparked the rally from 11 down with a fast-break lay-in before Sells drained four three-pointers from the deep corner over the next seven minutes.
Cox would then nail a 25-footer with 5.1 seconds in regulation to tie the score at 88 before scoring the first points of overtime after the first 30 seconds on another deep, line-drive three, followed one minute later by Sells’ fifth three-pointer.
“I hit the game-winner. You’re welcome,” Sells joked with Loring. “It’s all confidence, really.”
