Paige finds Henry for dramatic Linn-Mar victory
DES MOINES - Andy Henry was accustomed to catching touchdown passes from Mark Atwater during a successful football season for the Linn-Mar Lions last fall.
This time the all-state receiver caught one from Marcus Paige.
Henry snuck behind the defense and converted a halfcourt pass from Paige into the winning basket with six seconds remaining Wednesday night to give Linn-Mar a dramatic 51-50 victory over Dubuque Senior in the opening round of the Class 4A state basketball tournament.
Kyle Haber missed a bank-shot for Dubuque Senior at the buzzer and the fifth-ranked Lions (20-4) escaped to the semifinals Friday afternoon at 3:15 p.m. against No. 2 Iowa City West (24-0).
Ankeny (24-0) will play Sioux City East (20-3) in the first semifinal Friday at 1:30 p.m.
Henry was an unlikely hero for Linn-Mar. He's known for his scrappy defense and rebounding, but he averages just six points per game and was not the No. 1 option on the final play until Paige spotted him open near the basket.
"Thank god he caught it," said Atwater, Linn-Mar's star quarterback who watched this one from the stands.
Paige gave Linn-Mar a 49-47 lead with an 18-footer with 65 seconds remaining. It was Linn-Mar's first lead of the night during an uphill struggle, but it didn't last.
Josh Weeber drilled a 3-pointer to give Dubuque Senior a 50-49 edge with 14 seconds left, setting the stage for the dramatic finish.
Paige took the inbounds pass and raced upcourt. Everybody at Wells Fargo Arena knew Paige, a McDonald's All-American, would take the last shot and try to win the game himself.
Not this time.
"Marcus did a great job of getting the ball and not hesitating and dribbling up the court," Henry said. "Coach (Robertson) always told us to push it up the floor.
"My job is to sprint down the floor and get behind the defense. I just happened to be open and I hit the layup."
Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson watched the play unfold from the bench. He saw Paige score eight points in the final 26 seconds of the fourth quarter last Tuesday to rescue the Lions against Kennedy in the substate finals and had total confidence in Paige to make a winning play.
"We knew we had a timeout, but once the ball got inbounded to Marcus I told the guys, 'I'm not calling a timeout,'" Robertson said. "I think we've got the best player in the state, with the ball in his hands and his team down one. You let him go make a play.
"If anything, people saw how special he is, because most guys would have gone down and taken that shot."
Paige certainly thought about it, but he knew the Rams (18-6) might have him surrounded and saw several defenders in front of him. He kept his head up as the winning play unfolded.
"I think I had just crossed halfcourt," he said. "I was still looking at the clock - looking at my guy and looking at the clock."
Paige saw Henry get open and knew what he had to do.
"It was kind of a long pass, so I wasn't sure, but you have to trust your teammates in that situation," he said. "I knew if I gave it to him he would try and come through and he did.
"I had to jump to throw it. Give Andy credit for moving without the ball."
Henry caught it cleanly, but sensed trouble.
"I saw their tall guy coming and I didn't want him to block my shot," he said. "I felt he was going to foul me."
The Dubuque defender was too late. Henry layed the ball off the glass and in the basket for the 51-50 lead. It was Henry's only field goal of the game and the biggest of his life.
"Andy made a heck of a catch and a finish. It was a great play," said Robertson. "Unfortunately, it left a little too much time on the clock and Haber got another good look at the end."
Dubuque Senior called a timeout with 4.3 seconds left, but the clock operator had been a little slow and the referees put five seconds on the board.
Haber, a lanky 6-foot-6 sophomore, got a decent look and tried a bank-shot from about 14 feet with a second or two left as Linn-Mar fans held their breath.
"It definitely felt good when it came out of my hands," he said. "It just rimmed out."
For a brief moment, Paige saw his prep career coming to an end.
"It looked like it was going to bank in. I was right under the basket," he said. "It banked and rolled off. Once it rimmed out, I was like, 'I've got to grab this ball.'"
Dubuque Senior led by nine points in the second quarter and held a 26-19 advantage at intermission. The Rams led the game for 30 minutes and 55 seconds, but it wasn't long enough.
"We've had a lot of close games this year, and I think that helped us at the end," said Paige. "We've had a lot of comebacks. We just have to fight for all 32 minutes.
"You can call us whatever you want to, Comeback Kids or anything like that. But we just keep fighting."
Paige scored a game-high 23 points with North Carolina Coach Roy Williams watching from a luxury box. Paige will play for Williams at North Carolina next season, but he still has two more games to play for the Linn-Mar Lions.
Linn-Mar will play Friday in the semifinals and will play again Saturday, win or lose, either in the championship game Saturday night at 8:05 p.m. or in the consolation game for third place Saturday afternoon at 1:45 p.m.
The Lions are the defending state champs and are seeking their fourth state title since 2004.
Weeber led Dubuque Senior with 15 points and 11 rebounds. He nearly was the hero for the Rams and saluted Paige for helping to steal it away from him.
"A great pass by a great player," said Weeber. "That's why he's probably one of the best players in the country."
Linn-Mar is playing in the state tournament for the ninth straight year, a state record.
DUBUQUE SENIOR (50): Zevnik 0 4-5 4, Haber 5 1-1 12, Weeber 6 0-0 15, Grant 2 3-4 7, Bonifas 3 2-2 8, Holdridge 0 0-0 0, Anderson 1 1-1 3, Duve 0 1-4 1. Totals 17 12-17 50.
LINN-MAR (51): Lassen 4 0-1 9, Paige 9 3-4 23, Roth 2 0-0 6, Henry 1 3-4 5, Gogg 2 0-1 4, Martins 0 0-0 0, Meier 1 2-2 4, Schlotterback 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 8-12 51.
Halftime - Dubuque Senior 26, Linn-Mar 19. 3-point goals - Dubuque Senior 4 (Weeber 3, Haber 1), Linn-Mar 5 (Paige 2, Roth 2, Lassen 1).
