Smiths Free Throw Clinches Win

HUTCHINSON, Kan. -- Steve Smith stood at the free throw line with the ball clutched in his hands, eerily alone in many respects, despite having thousands of people waiting with bated breath on what would occur next. (Smith is being looked at by Texas A&M, South Carolina, Illinois State, and Iona. More schools listed in database).

Smith had just been fouled by Wabash Valley's Antwain Barbour as time expired, giving Coffeyville C.C. a chance to win the game in regulation with just one free throw attempt. Barbour has made a commitment to the University of Kentucky.

The 6-5 sophomore forward from Delaware studied the rim carefully, took a deep breath, and nailed a free throw, raising his arms in jubilation as his Red Raven teammates rushed the floor.

"It was like I was standing in the gym by myself," Smith said moments after Coffeyville's 71-70 NJCAA semifinal victory over Wabash Valley. "I just zoned the whole crowd out, went to the line and just knocked it down."

Smith's free throw with no time left on the clock was a somewhat anti-climatic ending to a thrilling game, kind of like a JUCO version of the 1989 NCAA Final between Seton Hall and Michigan.

After blowing a double digit second half lead, Coffeyville was on the ropes and gasping for air when it got the ball back with 22.9 seconds to play.

Wilfred Antoine, the Red Ravens' sophomore point guard, tried driving to the basket to unlatch the tie, but Wabash Valley swatted his shot out of bounds. That left just 1.5 ticks remaining, so Coffeyville had to act quickly to get a shot off.

Red Ravens' reserve freshman point guard Zach Graber was set to inbound the ball, and his pass found a leaping Smith, who caught the ball airborne and prepared to hoist a shot as he was bumped by the Warriors' Barbour.

When Smith's shot tickled the twine, it guaranteed Coffeyville a shot at the NJCAA title on Saturday night, where it will face Dixie State College of Utah.

In a game punctuated by dramatic spurts, Wabash Valley opened the game on a 9-0 run, only to see Coffeyville end the first half on a 40-19 surge for a 40-28 halftime lead.

The Red Ravens remained in control for much of the second half, leading 65-53 with just over four minutes to play. That's when the defending national champions made their move to set up an exciting finish.

The Warriors strung together a 17-5 run over the next three and a half minutes to knot the game at 70. A pressing defense caused a pair of late turnovers by Coffeyville freshman guard Devin Smith, leading to a Herman Davis three pointer and a pair of free throws from Tony Allen that deadlocked the game at 70. Allen has major interest by Auburn, South Carolina, Arizona State, Clemson, Kansas State, Minnesota, and Creighton.

Smith has been offered scholarships recently by Virginia and Kansas. He also has interest by Oklahoma, Illinois, Iowa, and UNLV. Allen

Just moments earlier, Coffeyville got a huge three point play from Antoine with 1:01 left to extend a precarious two point lead to five at 70-65. When Steve and Devin couldn't connect with each other on a pair of inbound plays in the final 47.9 seconds, Davis and Allen took advantage of the opportunity.

"We had them on the ropes a couple of times," said a relieved Coffeyville Head Coach Jay Herkelman. "But they're the defending national champs, and they didn't want to give up their crown easy. They got us rattled, and we ended up making a heck of a play down the stretch and Steve Smith stepped up and hit the free throw."

While it appeared that Barbour clearly bumped Smith as he went up to catch the ball, both sides were unhappy with many of the calls down the stretch. One of the turnovers on Devin Smith appeared to glance off Tony Allen, yet the refs awarded the ball to Wabash, who came down and scored on Davis' three pointer to cut the lead to a deuce.

Both coaches had opposite takes on the final call that essentially decided the outcome of the game.

"Zach made a great decision and Steve made a good catch," Herkelman said. "It was a foul. He got hit, and he stepped up and made the free throw."

Wabash Valley Head Coach Mark Nelson didn't necessarily argue the merits of the call, but felt it tainted the outcome of what had been a great basketball game.

"We're not the only team in the history of basketball that this has happened to, where a guy steps up there with 0.0 on the clock," Nelson said. "Obviously, the unwritten rule in sports is that you let the players decide the game and go into overtime, and see who is the best team in overtime. Unfortunately, that didn't happen."

Fred Marshall and Devin Smith tied for team high scoring honors on Coffeyville with 14 points each. Freshman Tommie Eddie and Steve Smith added 13 points each for the winners.

Tony Allen had a terrific second half and overall performance for Wabash Valley. He collected 22 points (18 second half), 13 rebounds and did a terrific defensive job on the Red Ravens' Devin Smith. Antwain Barbour added 16 points and nine rebounds, but shot just eight of 20 from the field and missed all three of his free throw attempts and all six of his three point attempts.

Others to hit double figures for the Warriors included sophomore swingman Davis (13 points) and sophomore shooting guard C.J. Hill (12 points). Wabash shot 38 percent (24/64) from the field and just 27 percent (7/26) from beyond the arc in defeat.

"I was a little bit disappointed in our first half," Nelson said. "I didn't think we played like we needed to. And any time you spot a very good team 12 points and have to play catch up, you expend a lot of energy to come back."

"In these type of games, you have to bring your "A" game," Nelson continued. And even though I thought we brought our "A" effort, some of our mentality and execution wasn't there."

Wabash Valley dropped to 32-5 with the loss, and will play Schoolcraft College (MI) on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the third place game of the NJCAA Tournament.