‘He deserves a play like that.’ Senior wins tournament on wild putback buzzer-beater in overtime.
It’s a play you might see in the backyard playing a game of tip-back “21,” except this was an overtime five-on-five battle between two of the state’s top boys’ high school basketball teams for a holiday tournament title.
Lexington Catholic senior Peyton Pelfrey left his feet and caught teammate Luke Wedding’s wild heave out of the air and quickly tipped it back toward the goal from about 8 feet out on the baseline as the clock ran out on their overtime game against Madisonville on Monday night.
As the ball went through the net, the buzzer sounded and Pelfrey’s teammates swarmed him in celebration. Lexington Catholic won 67-65, claiming the trophy of its own Traditional Bank Holiday Classic for the first time since 2013.
“It was crazy. It was unbelievable,” Pelfrey said after. “It was back and forth all game, and I was just there.”
With the game on the line in the final moments, LexCath put the ball in the hands of junior standout Ben Johnson, whose 36 points helped keep the Knights in it against the defending 2nd Region champ.
But Johnson’s three-point attempt from about 22 feet out with massive Maroons center Ksuan Casey in his face bounced hard off the back-left iron and bounded into the grasp of LexCath teammates Jackson Hill and Luke Wedding on the right wing near the three-point line. Wedding wrested control, but he didn’t know how much time was on the clock. So, he chucked it toward backboard as he fell away, figuring, at worst, they would be headed to double overtime.
“We were just bobbling and I was just trying … to throw something up. Throw a prayer. That’s all we had,” said Wedding. “It worked out.”
LexCath Coach Brandon Salsman said he wouldn’t be adding that scenario into his playbook (“no chance”) but he’s grateful for the victory.
“I thought we were going to two overtimes. I really did,” Salsman said. “When Ben missed I saw the rebound carom and I saw Luke grab it and I was like, ‘Oh’ and he just heaved it up there and I thought, ‘oh well.’ … Peyton was in the right place at the right time, and he deserves a play like that. He does everything for us and works his tail off.”
The win cemented undefeated LexCath’s (12-0) No. 1 standing on top of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s Ratings Percentage Index.
The RPI remains experimental for the KHSAA but should be an interesting point of reference as computer rankings such as the Herald-Leader’s Cantrall Ratings and the Associated Press poll come out next week. Madisonville (11-2) was No. 2 in the RPI and was rated in the H-L’s preseason coaches’ poll as the state’s No. 3 boys’ team. LexCath ranked No. 22 in that survey.
Jack Gohman added 14 points for the Knights. Wedding had eight and Pelfrey, five. Casey led the Maroons with 25, but fellow standout Kenny White, who fouled out in the OT period, was limited to just seven points. Keshawn Stone and Deljuann Johnson had 15 and 10 points, respectively for Madisonville.
This story was originally published December 30, 2019 at 10:57 PM.
