By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

SAND ROCK – Cherokee County High School junior forward Owen Jacoway found himself in the right place at the right time on the basketball court at Sand Rock on Thursday.

With time ticking down, Jacoway’s shot attempt in the paint was batted away by Sand Rock 6-foot-8 center Wyatt Miller, but Jacoway secured the rebound and put up a last-second jumper to lift the Warriors to a thrilling 66-64 victory.

“Coach drew up the play, and we just went out there and executed, finished through contact, and were able to pull it out,” Jacoway said. “We needed that one big time. We needed this one to build some momentum.”

Jacoway was mobbed by the rest of his Warrior teammates on the court after the buzzer sounded. He finished the game with nine points.

“The first shot, I thought he had him where he wanted him, but Wyatt made a great block from behind,” Warrior coach Caleb Hays said. “When it came back, he got his own (rebound). I knew when he got it off, I was like ‘Yes sir.’”

On the other side, the Class 2A, No. 2 Wildcats (14-5) were left stunned.

“The last shot there, that’s just the way the chips fall sometimes,” Sand Rock coach Nick Traffanstedt said. “We play man a lot. We were actually in man-to-man at the end. We switched back after he called time out, and that kind of got us there at the end.

“That was a really good job by Owen. He recognized the switch. He slipped out of it and got the ball in the middle. Wyatt had a good block, but we just weren’t in the right spot. Off a block, it’s kind of like a long rebound. You’re either there or you’re not. We weren’t there and they were, and they hit the shot. Credit to Owen. He hit a big shot. It’s tough to hit those shots.”

Sand Rock wouldn’t have been tied in the closing seconds had it not been a big shot from junior guard Thomas Snead. Snead sank an open 3-pointer near the top of the key to tie the game at 64 with 17 seconds remaining.

“We talked in the huddle right before that shot,” Traffanstedt said. “We were going to run a certain set where we had a couple of options. One of the options was Thomas. I told him if there’s nobody on you, you pop out and shoot that ball. He knew coming off what we call a razor cut, he come up through the gut and nobody stepped out on him because they were worried about our bigs. He hit a big shot. That was huge.”

But Jacoway’s shot at the end proved even bigger.

Keyshawn Woods led the Warriors (5-12) with 15 points. Tatum Perry and Nolan Neyman both netted 14 points. Cooper Allen finished with six points.

“We had a good team shooting night,” Hays said. “Tatum hit some big ones and Nolan hit some big ones. Cooper hit a really big one (early in the fourth quarter). When we shoot the ball well like that, we’re really tough to beat.”

Jonas Browder topped Sand Rock with 22 points, including an 11-of-14 performance from the free-throw line. He also had four rebounds, two assists, and a steal.

Will Cleere came away with 13 points and nine boards. Snead rang for eight points. Elijah Hood had seven points. Miller finished with six points, four boards, and three blocks.