NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. -- Time was on The Family's side on Wednesday night at the Nike Peach Jam.
After nearly blowing a 14 point second half lead, The Family avoided overtime when officials ruled that a game tying shot by All-Ohio Red's Josh Chichester came after the buzzer, preserving a 57-55 victory.
Trailing 45-31, All-Ohio rallied behind Miami bound guard James Dews, who heated up late in the second half. Dews scored 12 of his 13 points over the game's final 10 minutes to draw his team to within 57-55 with under a minute to play.
With 32.4 seconds left, All-Ohio fouled DeShawn Sims, who missed the front end of a one and one opportunity. After a time out by All-Ohio and a personal foul against The Family (who were not yet in the penalty), All-Ohio inbounded the ball with 3.7 seconds remaining.
They were able to get the ball into Dews, who worked feverishly to get past a Family defender for an open three-point attempt with just over a second to play. Even though it was a good look, Dews front rimmed the shot. Super athlete Chichester, who will play football at Ohio State in the fall of 2006, corralled the rebound and stuck it in as the buzzer sounded.
The refs decisively ruled the shot to have come after the buzzer, and All-Ohio Coach Tony Lavender and Family Coach Speedy Walker admitted not knowing whether the shot should have counted.
"I thought I tipped it in before the buzzer sounded, but I guess the ref has the last call," explained Chichester. "It hit us hard, too, because we really needed that win."
Aside from Dews, forward Ricky Jackson (11 points, seven rebounds) was the only other All-Ohio player to hit for double figures.
High major recruiting targets DeShawn Sims (Class of 2006) and Durrell Summers (2007) each scored 14 points to lead the Family, which improved to 2-2 in Pool D competition.