Pueblo South’s Maleek Johnson (4) guards an inbounds pass while Pueblo East’s Ryan Armijo (11) and Pueblo South’s Bryson Smith (44) stand in the background. Smith was the hero for the Colts. (Tracy Renck)
PUEBLO – Bryson Smith wasn’t lost in the euphoria of the moment.
The Pueblo South High School post player was in shock over being an unlikely hero in this key South-Central League game.
Smith caught an airball from his teammate Maleek Johnson and banked in the ball as time expired vaulting the Colts to a dramatic 76-74 overtime victory over rival East at the Southwest Motors Events Center.
“Coach (D.J. Johnson) just tells us every game and every day to crash the boards,” said the 6-foot-2, 255-pound Smith. “The shot went up and I just crashed the boards and I was just in the right place at the right time. I almost missed it. That’s first time I have made a game-winning shot in my life.”
South, ranked No. 3 in the latest CHSAANow.com Class 4A poll, ran its record to 15-2 overall with its 15th win in a row and sits alone atop the S-CL at 5-0. No. 6 East dropped to 13-4 overall and to 4-1 in league.
“I was trying to make the shot,” said the 6-foot-1 Johnson, who had 20 points. “That was all him (Smith). I knew it was off, but I’m glad he was there to clean it up. It was crazy.”
Johnson praised Smith for his court presence.
“We were just trying to set a high pick and roll for Maleek and hopefully get him something going to the basket,” Johnson said. “Jimmy (Valdez of East) did a great job of switching out and Maleek threw up that desperation shot. If Bryson doesn’t go to the boards hard that shot doesn’t happen, so I’m really happy for him.”
Trailing 74-72, Valdez tied the game when he received a pass from Dylan Gavin and made a layup with 22.6 seconds left in overtime.
That set the stage for Smith’s game-winner.
“This was a great win for us,” said Smith, who had five points. “This was team effort.”
Veteran East coach Dave Ryder wasn’t making any excuses in defeat.
“They ball screened and we didn’t rotate off it,” Ryder said.
South appeared to be in control of the game, taking its largest lead at 53-40 on Smith’s 3-pointer with 2:36 left in the third quarter.
The Eagles, however, kept battling and when Gavin converted a 3-point play the game was even at 62-62 with 3:04 showing on the fourth-quarter clock.
Neither team pulled away down the stretch. The game went into overtime tied at 66-66.
“I like the way we competed,” Ryder said. “We played with energy and executed.”
Gavin fueled East’s comeback as he had a career-high 41 points.
“It is disheartening to lose like that and I love my team,” Gavin said. “Give credit to them. They stayed with it the whole game and it came down to the last shot and they hit it. We just have to learn from this game and get better.”