HADLEY — Two weeks ago, Turners Falls’ hopes of a tournament appearance looked dim.
The Thunder needed to win five of their final six games to seal a spot in the postseason. They got on a roll, winning four in a row entering Monday’s game against Hopkins Academy. That set up a shot to get that all-important 10th win of the season.
Turners brought it from the opening tip, holding a lead throughout, but a red-hot fourth quarter by the Golden Hawks saw the lead shrink. With 10 seconds left, the lead had disappeared, and Hopkins knocked down a pair of free throws to go up 64-63.
With one final shot to win it, the Thunder got the ball into the hands of Chace Novak. The junior drove into the lane, spun and took a shot. The ball hit the side of the backboard, but the guard followed it, leaping up and putting it back off the glass where it dropped into the basket as the buzzer expired. The heart-stopping victory sent Turners into the tournament with a 65-64 Hampshire League South victory.
“I’m ecstatic,” Novak said. “I didn’t do too hot in the beginning of the game but I expect more of myself. I felt like I had to take initiative and take the last shot and I guess it worked. We’re dogs, all we want to do is get a win.”
Thunder coach Gary Mullins didn’t have a set play on the final possession, saying he had trust in his players to get a good shot off.
“Chace is a good offensive player,” Mullins began. “He decided he was going to go to the basket. They were spread out, they were playing a tight man. We had nothing set out of bounds, I told them we have 10 seconds to do something. He kept his cool, he didn’t fly up court and throw a bad shot up. He hung with it. Our kids are playing decent basketball right now.”
Turners (10-9, 4-3) came out flying, taking the lead on the first possession and holding onto it for nearly the entire game.
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Hopkins (12-6, 5-2) found its footing on the offensive end. The Thunder keyed on Hopkins guard Andrew Ciaglo all game, pushing their defense up to prevent him from getting any open looks at the rim.
The plan was successful, as the sophomore finished with 21 points, but wasn’t given any easy looks at the rim.
“If we hold him to around 15 (points) we have a shot,” Mullins said. “They have other players but they’re so reliant on him getting his 25 to 30, other guys shooting the basketball does us a favor. It catches up with you sometimes, but they ran out of time.”
While the plan on Ciaglo worked for the most part, over the final eight minutes of play, Golden Hawk big man Addison Phifer stepped up. The junior couldn’t miss from the baseline, getting open with the extension of the Turners defense to score 17 points in the final quarter of play.
The Thunder led 48-36 going into the final quarter, but a personal 9-0 run by Phifer cut the Turners lead to 53-47 with just under five minutes to play.
Both teams continued to trade buckets, but following a Phifer 3-pointer with two minutes to play, Anthony Peterson came up with a deep two of his own to make it 59-56 Thunder with 1:45 to play.
Ciaglo made a pair of free throws on the other end when Hopkins decided to play the foul game, sending Marcus Sanders to the line.
Sanders calmly knocked down a pair to make it 61-56, but another corner 3 from Phifer made it 61-59 with 43 seconds left.
Turnovers plagued Turners late, as the club coughed it up on the ensuing possession which led to a Ciaglo 3-pointer with 20 seconds left. That gave the Golden Hawks their first lead of the night, 62-61.
Sanders was bumped shortly after to go to the line for a one-and-one, where he once again knocked down both. Ciaglo drove to the rim with 10 seconds left and was fouled, making both shots to put Hopkins up 64-63 in the see-saw final minute.
“Our kids haven’t been there yet,” Mullins said. “(Hopkins) is a good club. They have 12 wins for a reason. I’m proud of the kids, our effort was tremendous. We made some turnovers down the stretch but we found a way.”
Sanders was able to control the pace for the Thunder, finishing with a team-high 22 points and dishing out five assists.
“I had open looks,” Sanders said. “When my teammates move around and get open, it makes my job easier.”
Peterson finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds while Novak had 14 points and six boards — none bigger than the game-winner as time expired.
Turners forced multiple turnovers in the first quarter to race out to a 17-9 lead, carrying the momentum into the second quarter to hold a 31-24 lead at the half.
A trio of 3-pointers in the third gave the Thunder a 48-36 lead entering the fourth.
Now riding a five-game win streak, tournament-bound Turners squad is looking to make some noise in the postseason. The Thunder close with Mahar on Feb. 17, looking to improve their postseason positioning with one final victory.
“We had it all along, we just waited to bring it out,” Sanders said. “I don’t know why we waited, but we did. We’re feeling good, we’re a hard team to beat.”