A long-range three-point basket, half-a-second from full-time, snatched a dramatic 53-50 win for Edmunds Interior Predators over Mayso’s Pro Shop in the Mudgee A grade men’s basketball grand final on Sunday.
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Mayso’s immediately called a time out but on resumption of play the in-bounds pass could not find a player to sink an equaliser.
The thrilling finish defied the precedence set by the three earlier periods, terms defending champs the Mayso’s Pro Shop boys led at the end of each.
Mayso’s Pro Shop enjoyed advantages at every change, 16-11 at the first break a at half-time they extended that lead to 26-18, mainly through scoring efforts of Liam Young and Peter Mayson despite heavy defence that ramped up as the match progressed.
The aggressive defence stymied the scoring attempts by both teams in the third quarter, but Mayso’s once again shaded their opponents 12-11 to head into the final 10 minutes with a handy nine-point advantage.
The game opened up in the final quarter, though, and Edmunds finally got their offense in sync.
With the fluidity of ball movement we’ve come to expect from the Predators, the Edmunds outfit began to pierce Mayso’s defence at will, a series of buckets to Anthony Hamson, Zac Burley and Ben Edmunds, who had been restricted to only seven points in the first 30 minutes of play, lifting their side when it mattered most.
As the game headed towards full-time, Predators had finally breached the gap but trailed 42-41 after a basket from Adam Keightley nudged Mayso’s ahead yet again.
Ben Edmunds replied to put his team in front, a bucket immediately countered by Dean Saxby for Mayso’s, before Blake Joseph then edged Predators to the lead with two free throws.
Peter Mayson sank a three-pointer to put his team in front by one, but it was a short-lived advantage, Burley putting Predators back in front as the match reached the crucial last minute.
A triple from Keightley and two from Hamson tied up the match, which looked certain to be heading for overtime.
But, Hamson had other ideas, and with Mayso’s defence hanging off him outside the circle, he launched a final shot to break the deadlock. It found nothing but net to give his team an unlikely victory, the final quarter 24-12 in favour of the winners.
Anthony Hamson scored 20 points for Edmunds Interior Predators, Zac Burley 16, Ben Edmunds 13.
For Mayso’s Pro Shop, Peter Mayson 16, Liam Young 14, Adam Keightley 12 were top scorers. Anthony Hamson was the Blowes Clothing most valuable player.
