Thursday, April 25, 2024
Every play in the Granbury Pirates’ 60-58 overtime home win over Crowley mattered, from Michael Withey’s gamewinning buzzer-beating elbow jumper to a banked three-pointer from Brady Willmeth with seven seconds left in the first half.
“I ain’t kidding – that little three Brady made to get it to nine (points) made it a lot more manageable,” Pirate head coach David Breazeale said.
But it was Withey who emerged as the hero, draining the clock as overtime ran down before moving to his right and pulling up over a defender to score his 13th and 14th points as time expired and give Granbury its second District 5-5A win of the season.
“Man, when he put it up, I just went, ‘That’s cotton,’” Breazeale said. “That was just pure.”
As the ball went through the net, the Granbury bench spewed onto the court. The Pirates dogpiled on top of Withey before forming a handshake line with the stunned Crowley players, and you could hear hooting and hollering from the Granbury locker room for a long while after the final whistle.
After the game, Breazeale let it show how happy he was with his bunch.
“I’m just tickled. I’m so freaking proud of them,” he said. “How can you be more proud of a team?”
Crowley has fallen on a losing streak as of late but was ranked in the Top 25 earlier this season. The Eagles boast one of the top players in the district in forward Hayden Brittingham, and Granbury had to find a way to deal with his size and strength.
Crowley built a 31-22 lead at the half. The Eagles were willing to stand and hold the ball near halfcourt for long stretches to drain clock, which wound up giving Granbury players a much-needed rest.
“Them getting in that spread and letting us rest helped,” Breazeale said. The Pirates use a smaller rotation than most teams and don’t get the chance to rest their starters often.
Granbury successfully drew two charges on Brittingham, the second of which fouled him out and led to a technical foul on the Crowley bench with 1:13 to go in the fourth quarter.
By that point, Granbury had taken the lead thanks to a Withey three-pointer a minute earlier. Branden Hunt sank both technical free throws to give the Pirates a 52-48 lead with just over a minute left.
Crowley was able to force overtime, and Granbury built a five-point lead with 1:10 left in the extra period after Gage Molinari hit two free throws. But Crowley buried a three-pointer, and after Granbury was whistled for a lane violation on a made free throw, the Eagles tied it at 58.
That set the stage for Withey’s jumper.
Hunt finished with 13 points, including three threepointers in the third quarter alone. Molinari had 12 points and four rebounds, fighting his way to the basket for several tough layups.
McLain Golba added nine points and three assists, Payton Plash had eight points and dished out seven assists and Willmeth scored four – including that banked-in three.
PLAYING FOR PRIDE
Breazeale was frank about his team’s motivation heading into the final games of the season.
“They know we’re not going to make the playoffs,” he said. “But I told them, ‘Guys, I think y’all can win some games before this thing’s done.’”
The Pirates are in a district with four different teams – Crowley, Arlington Seguin, Mansfield Timberview and Burleson Centennial – that have been ranked in the Top 25 in Class 5A this season. Granbury has hung with many of those schools and beat Seguin in overtime earlier this season but has fallen short in every other game.
“You cannot imagine how good this district is,” Breazeale said. “I’ve just never been in a district like this.”
Granbury will shift into a new district in 2020 with Wichita Falls, Wichita Falls Rider, Azle, Brewer and Aledo. Brewer and Rider are state ranked this season, and Azle and Wichita Falls are tough teams, but the Pirates won’t have to face the best of the Fort Worth suburbs.
Breazeale said Monday that he thinks the new district will help Granbury’s chances to make the postseason.
“Very pleased,” he said. “We have a better chance to be a playoff contender.
“I wish these seniors who have improved so much could’ve been in the district they were supposed to be in the last two years, but much of their improvement is due to playing against these talented teams. But as for the next two years, it should be better.”
The Pirates traveled to Mansfield Legacy Friday. They’ll try to take down Arlington Seguin for the second time this season at home Tuesday at 8 p.m.
DISTRICT 5-5A BOYS BASKETBALL
1. Burleson Centennial (7-1)
T2. Mansfield Timberview (7-3)
T2. Arlington Seguin (7-3)
4. Mansfield Legacy (6-4)
5. Crowley (5-5)
T6. Granbury (2-8)
T6. Everman (2-8)
T6. Burleson (2-8)
