Mt. Hoods Brock Otis thought he was the hero.
With the Saints trailing by one, Otis stole the ball and it took it the length of the floor, finishing with a two-handed slam. The dunk put Mt. Hood in front with less than 10 seconds remaining.
With the pressure on Clackamas, the Cougars hustled down the court, but had no easy shot. The Cougars finally found forward Grant Sitton in front of their own bench. No one else was open, so Sitton pulled the trigger with the toes of his Nikes a few inches behind the 3-point line. The shot splashed through the nylon with 1.2 seconds left, robbing the Saints of the win.
Mt. Hoods football-throw from three-quarters court found nothing but air, and Clackamas escaped with a 71-69 win.
We just wanted to get a hand up and we did a really good job, Mt. Hood coach Geoff Gibor said. He made a really big shot, and he made a few of those tonight. Obviously, we wish we had it again.
Look for expanded game coverage in our Friday, Jan. 18, print edition.