PREPS: Tigers win, reach finals against Bishop Manogue

It's the moment every kid plays out in his driveway growing up.

It's the moment that makes up the stuff of small-town hoop legend, the kind perfect strangers bring up in casual conversation through decades to come.

Theo Denson's moment came Thursday night.

The Douglas High senior sprung into the open along the corner baseline with his team trailing 77-75 and 3.8 seconds left on the clock.

He watched as teammate Chris Downs fielded the inbound just inside half-court line and rolled to his right. Denson was left unmarked behind the 3-point line as the pass blistered in from midcourt.

One look, one step, one release.

For a split second, all was silent. Then the buzzer.

A thousand pairs of eyes watched Denson's shot sail cleanly through the net, sending a cascade of orange-and-black-clad classmates onto the court as Douglas snuck away with a 78-77 win in double-overtime over the Hug in the 4A regional semifinals at Morse Burley Gym.

The shot launched Douglas into its third regional title game in the last five years. The Tigers will face Manogue Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Carson High.

"It was unbelievable," Denson said. "I had a really poor game until that shot. That shot made up for a lot. It's one more game.

"I was just thinking it's my last year,(possibly) my last game. I just wanted to make the shot and play one more."

The shot brought a quick end to a wild and spectacular game that saw many lead changes and swings in momentum.

Just moments prior to Denson's shot, Hug's Andrew Johnson, who finished with a game-high 25 points, had been primed to play the hero - nailing a fadeaway jumper with four seconds remaining to put the Hawks up 77-75.

Douglas immediately called a timeout to draw up its final play.

"We just wanted any one of our shooters coming out on that back side," Douglas coach Corey Thacker said. "Chris made a great read and found Theo back there.

"We had Austin (Neddenriep) and Theo crossing and we just said if you have the shot, take it. We had (center) Hunter (Myers) coming down the middle too. We would've taken anything we could get.

As it was, Denson's shot was as solid as they come.

"He made the shot, made a perfect 3-pointer," Thacker said.

Neither team had been able to build a lead of more than eight points through the first three quarters, but Hug appeared to be ready to pull away for the win after Johnson strung a personal 6-0 run together on three consecutive points in transition off Douglas turnovers.

The run put Hug up 55-48 with 4:02 left in the game, forcing a Douglas timeout.

The Tigers came back out and grabbed control of the momentum, surging back with a 13-2 run to take a 61-57 with 1:45 remaining.

Hug cut the lead back down to 61-59 on a pair of Sam Williams free throws, but Myers - who led Douglas with 22 points - scored on a putback with 55 seconds left to push it back to 63-59.

Johnson scored the final two baskets of regulation though, the last coming with 13 seconds left to tie it up at 63. Neither team got off a solid final shot as the game went in to overtime.

Hug jump out to a 69-65 lead in the first overtime, but Douglas steadily worked its way back.

Leading 71-69, Hug had a chance to seal the game with 18 seconds left on the clock with a chance for a one-and-one at the free throw line.

The Hawks missed the front end though, and Douglas' Matt Thomas grabbed the rebound, drawing a foul in the process which earned him an automatic trip to the line.

He made both shots, tying the game, and Johnson's lay-up attempt on the other end was deflected on the way up, sending the game to a second overtime.

Douglas took a 75-73 lead with 2:45 remaining, but were held without a field goal until the final second as Johnson tied the game on a pair of free throws and made the potential dagger with four seconds left.

"They had some great runs, we had some good runs," Thacker said. "That was an exciting game. I've never been a part of anything like that. "I don't think these kids have ever been a part of a game like that.

"We didn't play our best game ever, but I don't think Hug did either. We both just battled the entire time and it came down to the final shot. Hug, there is nothing lost there. They battled, Johnson had a great game. They stepped it up defensively and controlled our bigs inside. That was our game plan and they were very good at isolating them."

Neddenriep added 21 points to Myers' 22, Denson had 13, Thomas and Jorey Scott each had six, Downs had five, Garrett Getty had three and Nick Maestretti had two.

For Hug, Williams finished with 19, Devyn Smith-Thomas had nine and Norris Dupree had eight.

Manogue advanced to Saturday's championship game thanks to a late-game layup from Brennan Hogan to lift the Miners to a 57-55 win over McQueen.