Baldwin — Now, if Ottawa coach David Grover could only get the state tournament moved to Baldwin.
The Cyclones' exhilarating 59-58 victory over Augusta Saturday night at BHS, which wasn't secured until a final-second Augusta shot fell short, not only gave Ottawa its second straight Baldwin Invitational title but its 10th straight win in Baldwin in the past two seasons.
"We've won more games in this gym than our home gym," Grover said. "We'll see if they'll host it (state) up here."
If they did, most other Class 4A schools in the state probably wouldn't stand a chance. The red-and-black-clad Cyclones have taken a liking to Baldwin's "purple-pride" gym.
The Cyclones led just twice against Augusta.
Once at the end of the first quarter and then again after senior Cale Drumright's bank shot in the final 25 seconds proved to be the game-winner after a frantic finsih.
"That's probably the most exciting game I've ever been in," said Drumright, who scored a team-high 18 points. "The atmosphere was great. It was a great effort by everyone."
Especially from Drumright early on, who countered Augusta's solid start with three three-pointers in the first quarter. But it was Clint Bones' putback that gave the Cyclones their first lead, 17-16.
The Orioles quickly regained control, going on a 14-6 run and led 39-31 at the halftime.
Augusta's trio of Matt Sims, Wes Little and John Maier accounted for 50 of the Orioles' 58 points and combined for 16 rebounds.
But not even the play of Augusta's leaders, which all made the all-tournament team, could provide enough to hold off Ottawa's comeback.
"We were just kind of out-of-sync for most of the night," Grover said. "But we kept hanging around just long enough."
Ottawa outscored the Orioles 14-5 in the fourth quarter.
Drumright popped in a three-pointer from the wing to cut Augusta's lead to 54-52 with 2:35 to go.
Over a minute and a half later, Ottawa's Chris Hermreck's three-pointer rolled around the rim before plopping in to pull the Cyclones within one, 58-57.
Ottawa eventually regained possesion and called timeout to set up Drumright.
The guard quickly caught the ball and pump-faked before looping in the lane and pumpfaking again, coaxing two Augusta defenders to jump while he hit a two-foot bank shot.
"They just kept their poise and never paniced," Grover said. "This was a huge win for us, almost like a state tournament-type victory."
Ottawa 59, Augusta 58
OTTAWA (59)
Adam Spratt 0-4 1-2 1, Cale Drumright 7-13 0-0 18, Ross Thompson 5-8 2-2 12, Chris Hermreck 3-14 2-2 9, Isaac Templeton 6-6 0-0 12, Eric Hull 1-6 0-0 3, Clint Bones 1-3 2-2 4, Lee Baldwin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 7-8 59.
AUGUSTA (58)
Matt Sims 5-14 2-4 13, John Maier 8-13 3-4 19, Kyle Taylor 1-2 3-6 5, Jake Sims 0-2 0-0 0, Wes Little 8-14 0-0 18, Steve Oltman 1-2 0-0 2, Hans Nickel 0-1 0-0 0, Scotty Landers 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 23-51 9-16 58.
Ottawa (9-3) 17 14 14 14 59
Augusta (8-3) 16 23 14 558
Three-point shooting Ottawa 6-18 (Drumright 4-6, Hermreck 1-5, Hull 1-6, Spratt 0-1), Augusta 3-6 (Little 2-2, Sims 1-4). Fouls Ottawa 15, Augusta 12. Turnovers Ottawa 10, Augusta 11. Technicals Ottawa 2 (Bench, Templeton).
Santa Fe Trail 52, Baldwin 47
SFT opened the second half with a 19-0 run and survived a flurry of fourth-quarter three-pointers by Baldwin to finish third.
The Chargers were led by Ryan Hulings' 15 points, while Justin Ramsdell and Cameron Babb combined for 25 points and 14 rebounds.
Joe Gipp finished with a game-high 21 points and Andy Hannon added 13, but Baldwin couldn't come back after its third-quarter deficit.
Santa Fe Trail 52, Baldwin 47
SANTA FE TRAIL (52)
Justin Ramsdell 5-8 3-6 13, Cameron Babb 6-12 0-0 12, Ryan Hulings 6-7 1-2 15, Ben Fawl 1-4 0-1 2, Shane Miles 1-4 1-4 4, Petr Solar 0-0 0-0 0, Jay Shively 0-1 0-0 0, Brian Kral 2-5 2-2 6. Totals 21-41 7-15 52.
BALDWIN (47)
Hugh Murphy 1-3 0-0 2, Eric Black 1-3 0-0 3, Eric Brown 1-4 0-0 2, Andy Hannon 5-11 0-0 13, Joe Gipp 8-16 1-1 21, Chapin Deel 1-3 0-0 2, Yancy Richards 1-3 1-1 3, Micah Mason 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 18-46 3-4 47.
SFT (8-4) 11 6 25 1052
Baldwin (5-8) 15 7 9 1647
Three-point shooting SFT 3-7 (Hulings 2-2, Miles 1-3, Fawl 0-2), Baldwin 8-20 (Gipp 4-10, Hannon 3-6, Black 1-2, Richards 0-2). Fouls SFT 9, Baldwin 14. Turnovers SFT 18, Baldwin 16.
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