McComb’s five-point lead late in Tuesday’s playoff game felt like a 25-point lead.
The Tigers clung to a 34-29 advantage with 5:00 to play and went into keep-away-mode for the third straight game.
The result was the same as McComb stalled long enough to hold off Gautier, 44-39, in the Class 5A South State playoffs. The Tigers will play Wayne County in Friday’s South State semifinals at West Harrison.
“Once we get the lead, even if it’s one point, we are going to see if they can guard us. And we did,” McComb coach Hilton Harrell said. “They went man and that’s when we really took control of the ball game.”
McComb (21-8) works on time-and-score situations every day at practice and has slowly gotten accustomed to handling the ball under pressure. The Tigers had fourth-quarter leads in the previous two games against Wingfield and Brookhaven and used the same tactics.
The strategy isn’t exactly rocket science. Without a shot clock, the opponent has two choices — play defense and hope for a steal or foul.
Gautier (17-9) was finally forced to foul toward the end of the game, and when it did, McComb cashed in. The Tigers made 14 of 16 free throws in the second half, including a combined 10 of 10 from guards Antonio Johnson and LeDerrius Simmons.
Johnson’s final two free throws sealed the game after Gautier made things interesting when Josh Rutledge’s 3-pointer with 7 seconds left cut McComb’s lead to 42-39.
“They’re done once we have it,” said Johnson, who drained six free throws in the final 90 seconds. “We’re just trying to hold the ball, make good passes and shots and do what we need to do to keep the lead.”
Johnson was big for McComb down the stretch and finished with a game-high 17 points despite a poor shooting performance. The junior was just 2 of 11 from the field but made all 11 of his free throws.
“I knew if I got down on myself, it wouldn’t be good,” Johnson said. “I tried to contribute any way I could and it happened that the free throws were the contribution.”
Gautier stymied McComb early with a lightning-quick 2-1-2 zone defense and took a 25-17 lead at halftime. McComb moved the ball well against the zone, but Gautier rotated fast enough to force tough shots. The Tigers connected on just 2 of 14 3-point attempts.
“That’s the best zone I’ve seen since I’ve been coaching,” Harrell said. “They did that thing well.”
Harrell had only one game tape of Gautier and noticed how fast the zone looked. But seeing it in person even surprised him.
“It was quick on film and I told them it was quick but ... it was a lot better,” he said.
Even with a perimeter-based offense, McComb still managed to win the battle inside. Stacy Mack and Shemar Williams helped McComb hold a 25-16 rebound advantage. Mack finished with six points, eight rebounds and two blocks while Williams had four points and eight rebounds.
Harrell figured the zone wouldn’t last all night and the shots would eventually fall. In the meantime, he made some key halftime adjustments, including some added pressure to start the third quarter.
“We didn’t throw any of our junk defense at them (in the first half).” Harrell said. “As long as we stayed within striking range, we wanted to keep them at bay.”
Harrell actually tested the defense at the end of the second quarter to see how Gautier responded. The tape didn’t reveal how the Gators would handle the press, so Harrell needed to see for himself.
After seeing what he liked, McComb came with full court pressure in the second half and forced four turnovers and allowed no field goals in the third quarter. The Tigers outscored the Gators 11-2 to take a 28-27 lead into the fourth.
“We knew we didn’t want to go home,” Johnson said. “Everybody came together and played hard defense and made stops.”
The Tigers led by as many as nine points with less than a minute to play before the Gators hit a pair of 3-pointers.
Rutledge led Gautier with 11 points and five rebounds.
