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DUBLIN — A hope and a prayer. That’s all it was.
James Logan senior Tim Oldham didn’t expect the shot of a lifetime to swish through the basket — nothing but net.
Yet it did.
A jaw-dropping 30-foot turnaround at the buzzer off a loose-ball rebound stunned the home crowd at Dublin, witness Wednesday night to an improbable 86-83 victory by third-seeded James Logan in the North Coast Section Division I boys basketball semifinals.
“It’s still unreal to me,” Oldham said. “I still can’t believe I hit that. It’s just crazy.”
He added: “I mean, honestly, I just got the ball and I put it up and I hoped for the best. I thank God that that went down, honestly. I have no words. I have no words.”
Moments earlier, No. 2 Dublin (25-5) electrified its fans in the final minute of regulation during a nine-second span that erased a seven-point deficit.
The improbable sequence began after a layup by junior Robby Beasley with 24.7 seconds left, which was immediately followed by a technical foul on the Colts. Dublin junior Jaden Saunders drained both free throws, then proceeded to knock down a corner trey with 16 seconds to go.
“I just liked our resiliency at the end,” Dublin coach Tom Costello said. “We could’ve packed it in, but we kept fighting and got a chance to tie it up at the end.”
James Logan (24-5) called a timeout with 11.1 seconds left and drew up a play for point guard Brett Thompson, who finished with a game-high 23 points.
But his drive to the basket was emphatically blocked off the backboard and bounced out beyond the 3-point line, where Oldham retrieved it and tossed up a heave.
“I was on the ground when it happened,” Thompson said. “I turned back and I see it about to go in, then I just got up and started sprinting toward him.”
“It was just kind of the epitome of how the game went,” Costello said. “Our kid makes a hell of a block, too hard and it goes all the way to the half line. And you turn around and it’s March Madness.”
He added: “That was two great teams going at it and toe-to-toe. They didn’t quit, we didn’t quit and it came down to a miraculous shot.”
James Logan advances to play No. 1 De La Salle (27-3) for the NCS Division I championship on Friday at St. Mary’s College. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
“It means everything,” said Oldham, whose school’s only NCS titles came way back in 1985 and ’87. “We definitely want to go into the NCS championship game and come out with a victory. It would mean the world to this program, it would mean the world to my teammates, to me. And it will be one step closer to our final goal, which is a state championship.”
Two years ago, the Colts finished as the CIF state Division I runner-up after bouncing back from a 60-56 loss to the Gaels in the NCS semifinals.
The teams met again earlier this season at the Gridley Invitational, with Dublin once again victorious 72-60 on Dec. 7.
“This was a great equalizer tonight,” James Logan coach Melvin Easley said.
“This was our redemption from two years ago,” Thompson said.
James Logan nearly led wire-to-wire in the first half as Oldham came off the bench to provide 15 of his 22 points before intermission.
“Let me tell you something, Tim is truly a starter,” Easley said. “I use him as a sparkplug. People don’t realize and they forget about him. And he comes in and he does exactly what we ask him to do. He gets to the cup and he scores and he causes problems other teams, especially on the transition defense.”
Up 42-38 at the half, the Colts continued to push the pace and found themselves comfortably ahead 54-45 midway through the third quarter after a 3-pointer by 6-foot-4 senior Gabriel Hawkins, who finished with 19 points.
That’s when the tide turned, as Dublin deployed its depth. Beasley, who was held to four points in the first half, led the charge during a 17-0 run that extended into the fourth quarter.
“He’s been here before,” Costello said. “He struggled a little early in the game, but he’s a champion-type player. He’s clutch when we need him, made some big shots and he was not to be denied.”
Beasley finished with a team-high 21 points, while four teammates cracked double digits as the Gaels eventually opened up a 68-58 lead with five minutes left.
“It’s a game of runs,” Oldham said. “We just had to hold our own through their run and we were going to come out on top.”
Brett Thompson seemingly traded turns with younger cousin Brah’Jon down the stretch, eventually building an 83-76 lead in the final minute before things got … let’s say, interesting.
“The ball was going to him,” said Oldham of the play drawn up out of a timeout with 11.1 seconds left for Brett Thompson. “He was going to come in and win the game for us. I just got the rebound and hoped for the best.”
“I say this every time, we never stop playing until that buzzer,” Easley said. “I can’t say enough about how hard these guys play. You can see it, everybody can see it, they play hard until the last buzzer. I’m so proud of them.”
• In the aftermath of the game-winning shot, Brah’Jon Thompson, who finished with 19 points, suffered a possible concussion at the bottom of the dogpile and was treated by paramedics postgame.
• Dublin filed a protest with the NCS after a disagreement on the number of fouls for James Logan senior Malcolm Steadman with three minutes left in the third quarter led to a break in the action.
“We did file a formal protest on the personal fouls of 32,” Costello said. “When they changed the book, you can’t do that. So there’s a chance we could play again tomorrow.”
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