(Video courtesy of Winfield H.S.)
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Tied at 41 with 2.6 seconds left, Poca had possession of the basketball and the Dots were hoping for one last shot against their rivals from Winfield. A brilliant defensive play and a three-quarter court heave landed the Generals on ESPN’s ‘SportsCenter Top Plays’.
Junior guard Tyler Knight stole an inbounds pass and banked in the game-winning triple as time expired, giving Winfield a 44-41 win over the Dots Friday evening.
“To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting it. Coach just put me in because I am a defensive player. I can honestly say that when I threw it up, I had no clue where it was going. I just shot it and prayed for the best,” Knight said.
“They told me to hover and double (Isaac McKneely). I saw the ball coming and I leaped for it, hoping I could get to it. I looked up at the clock and there was about a second left. So I threw it and it banked in.”
“We practice those,” said Winfield head coach Chris Stephens. “For Ty, that is special. I think he probably played 49 seconds in the game and he came up with two big steals at the end of each half. He has bought into his role the whole year. He hasn’t complained. He is ready for when he need him.”
The Generals will face Poca again under the ‘Dot Dome’ on April 13.
“We have played them before and we know what Poca does. We came out and executed very, very well. McKneely is a tough, tough guard. You can do everything right and he can still drop twenty. You have to hope he misses a few shots. But I think we only gave him one or two really open looks.”
24 hours later, the Generals won at Scott, 60-53. Winfield improved to 7-4 with the weekend victories and they will host Nitro Wednesday evening.