C.A. Johnson survives wild finish, Ridge Spring-Monetta to advance in playoffs

Tajh Green’s hook in the paint with 0.4 seconds to go should have given the C.A. Johnson crowd a sigh of relief Tuesday night.

Green’s shot broke a tie that Ridge Spring-Monetta forced in a furiously defensive second half.

But even with shavings of a second left, the game wasn’t over. Just after Green’s shot, officials called a technical foul when some former Green Hornets players got excited and ran out on the floor.

“The timekeeper thought that they (the officials) called a timeout and he also stopped the clock to make sure the court was clear,” Green Hornets coach Daryl Jarvis explained.

Raekwon Parris, the leading scorer for the Trojans with 17 points, took to the line. He missed both shots, and when Ridge Spring-Monetta failed to inbound the ball in time, C.A. Johnson took over and let the game end.

“Thank God he missed both of those free throws,” Jarvis said.

The win puts the Green Hornets (12-12) into the Upper State championship Saturday at the Bons Secours Arena in Greenville where they’ll play Calhoun County.

C.A. Johnson took a 29-17 lead into halftime, where the Green Hornets showed they could create open lanes for Willie Butler and others to head to the basket.

Ridge Spring-Monetta (16-7) on the other hand, had just two 3-pointers, seven field goals, and a single foul shot in the first two quarters

“I challenged them,” Trojans coach Mark Wright said. “Those guys responded and they made a run.”

Ridge Spring-Monetta changed its defensive look to a 1-3-1. Almost instantly, the Green Hornets’ attack dried up.

That sparked the Trojans’ 14-3 run, which cut the Green Hornets lead to 32-31 with 2:13 left in the third.

“If we could keep their guard in front of us we could stop him from breaking to the basket,” Wright said. “Our 1-3-1 trap turned the game around we could rotate and keep their big man (Green) behind us, so that if we got any steals we could go straight to the basket.”

C.A. Johnson went into the fourth quarter leading 36-33, but the Trojans kept it close until Corey Hopkins’ putback gave Ridge Spring-Monetta a 41-40 lead with 50 seconds to go.

A Butler basket put the Green Hornets back up 42-41 at the 22-second mark, but Marquis Hopkins sank a free throw with 11 seconds left set up Green’s go-ahead shot.

“Sometimes you get into a dogfight,” Jarvis said. “The end time isn’t about X’s and O’s, it’s about maintaining composure, maintaining poise. We’ve always got plays. In the end we’d give the ball to the point guard and everybody would collapse on him and he’d give it to Tajh in the middle. Either he’s going to get fouled or he’s going to dunk on somebody.”

Green finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Butler had 13 points.

“Coming down to the end we missed some crucial free throws, had a couple of bad turnovers, but at the same time, we still had a chance,” Wright said of the Trojans. “My kids are fighters, I’m proud of every last one of them.”