Auburn claws back late in final minutes to defeat Stadium in 3A district basketball game

Just like that, last year’s champs are one step away from the chance to defend their crown.

Not that the step was easy by any means for the Auburn Trojans against visiting Stadium in the opening round of the West Central/Southwest Bi-District boys basketball tournament on Saturday night. But the Trojans got a clutch 3-pointer from league MVP Jaylen Petty in the final minute and parlayed that shot into a 65-62 victory.

The win puts the Trojans (17-5) into the 3A district semifinals where they will face seventh-seeded Auburn Mountainview for the third time this season on Thursday.

More, Auburn earned a regional berth with the victory, leaving them one win away from going back to the Tacoma Dome for the 3A state tournament that begins Wednesday, March 1. And, the Trojans get at least one more game on their home floor since Auburn High hosts the district semifinals and championship next week.

“Obviously we had to work all the way down to the wire,” Auburn coach Ryan Hansen said. “We did survive and found a way to make enough plays at the end to win. We were able to punch our ticket tonight to the Round of 20. It’s not going to get any easier. It’s playoff basketball.”

Inside the final two minutes of the game, that ticket still was up for grabs. The Tigers (13-8) never let the defending champs get too far away and grabbed a 50-48 lead entering the fourth quarter. Stadium built on that momentum with a 9-4 spurt to begin the final eight minutes, grabbing its biggest lead of the game, 59-52, on Donovan Gill’s basket with 4 minutes, 33 seconds to play.

It stayed that way until the 3:18 mark, when Petty scored to break the drought on both ends. From that moment on, the NPSL MVP took over, scoring 11 of the Trojans final 13 points.

The biggest of those shots came with 55 seconds left, when the 5-foot-9 guard took a pass 24 feet from the basket at the top of the key. With several feet of room between him and the nearest defender, Petty launched the shot.

Swish, and Auburn had the lead back, 61-60.

“We broke down on defense one time all night, and Jaylen Petty made us pay for it,” Stadium coach Dominic Batton said.

Petty then made four free throws in the final 24 seconds to put away the victory, finishing with a game-high 21 points.

“We got a good transition 3, and after that we really locked in as a team to play good defense,” Petty said. “They knew that I could make free throws and they looked for me.”

The close finish was unsurprising considering how the entire contest went.

A contentious and foul-filled first half (22 combined fouls were called) finally ended with Baaroc Rivers’ running heave from just over the midcourt line. He hit nothing but net for three points to bring Stadium within one, 34-33, at the break.

Before Rivers closed the gap heading to the locker room, Auburn built a 10-point lead with 6 :26 to go in the second quarter on one of Luvens Valcin’s driving layups. That put the Trojans on top, 20-10.

The Tigers responded with a run to tie it on a Ne’Quan Brown jumper with 4:27 to play in the first half. It stayed close the rest of the second quarter.

Rivers finished with a team-high 18 points. Brown added 16 points for Stadium. Valcin had 20 for Auburn, including 12 in the first half when the Trojans needed someone to score.

At the end, though, Petty dominated play.

“He didn’t shoot the ball real well tonight,” Hansen said. “But when it mattered, he hit the big three. He’s been a guy for us all year. He’s the league MVP. He deserves to hit those kinds of shots.”