Golden Valley wins double overtime thriller

After the buzzer sounded and the crowd rushed the floor, Golden Valley High boys basketball coach Keith Hunter gave senior Lee McNeill a long hug.

“I told him how proud I was of him,” Hunter said. “I was very proud of how he played.”

After two years as a role player, McNeill has become Mr. Everything for the Cougars this year and he showed why on Friday night, scoring 17 of his 26 points after the third quarter to lift Golden Valley to a thrilling 64-60 victory over Merced in double overtime at Cougar Arena.

“I didn’t want to lose,” McNeill said. “Coach kept giving me the ball and I attacked. That was the funnest game we’ve had all year. Did we go two overtimes? That was fun.”

The fourth quarter and two overtime periods were a blur as each team matched big shot for big shot, sending a near capacity crowd into a frenzy.

Merced’s A.J. Stewart (22 points) and Ulonzo Gilliam (15) combined to score all 16 of the Bears’ points in the fourth quarter. McNeill countered with 10 of GV’s 14 points.

McNeill hit a 3-pointer and Collin Hayes (12 points) added a pair of free throws to give the Cougars (11-10 overall, 4-1 Central California Conference) a 48-41 lead with 4:38 left in regulation.

The Bears stormed back with seven consecutive points as Stewart hit a trey, Gilliam drove in for a layup and Stewart slammed home a dunk to tie the game at 48-48 with 2:32 left in the fourth.

The lead changed hands twice in the final minute as Gilliam scored on another drive to give Merced a 50-49 lead. McNeill then drained a 3-pointer to give the Cougars a 52-50 lead with 35 seconds left.

Gilliam responded again with another drive to the bucket to tie the game at 52-all with 16 seconds left.

The fourth quarter ended in bizarre fashion as the two teams exchanged turnovers and McNeill was denied a game-winning basket with three seconds left to send the game into overtime.

McNeill scored all five of Golden Valley’s points in the first overtime as his three-point play gave the Cougars a 57-54 lead with 1:04 left.

“Lee has played three years for me and each year he’s played a role for us,” Hunter said. “This year he’s adjusted to being the guy and I’m happy for him. He made some big shots when everyone knew he was getting the ball.”

Stewart answered by draining his fifth 3-pointer of the game just before the shot clock sounded to tie the game at 57-57 with 26 seconds left.

Golden Valley’s Isaac Daniel had a shot to win the game at the end of the first overtime, but his basket came after the buzzer.

Golden Valley got big shots from Bobby Moore and freshman Cyrus Allen (14 points and 12 rebounds) as the Cougars took a 62-59 lead with 1:32 left in the second overtime.

The Bears finally went cold and Golden Valley hung on to remain tied atop the CCC with Turlock.

“Our kids wanted to win so bad,” said Merced coach Hector Nava, whose team dropped to 14-8 and 3-2. “Our seniors wanted to win. As a coach I’m proud of our guys. They tried so hard. I as a coach have to get better to teach us how to win these overtime games.”

This story was originally published January 23, 2015 at 11:46 PM with the headline "Golden Valley wins double overtime thriller."