This is why you have to hit your free throws late in games.

As reported by the Contra Costa Times, Associated Press and a handful of other outlets, San Diego (Ca.) Horizon Christian escaped with the California Interscholastic Federation Division V state title after drilling a game-winning three pointer at the buzzer to edge favored Alameda (Ca.) St. Joseph Notre Dame School, 47-46.

While the official record will always acknowledge Horizon guard Ethan Underwood as the hero, it’s likely to overlook the role played by St. Joseph Notre Dame’s Marcus Harris, who missed two free throws with four seconds remaining that could have iced the victory for the Pilots.

As rough as those misses may have been, Harris wasn’t the only Pilots player on the hook, either. Another St. Joseph Notre Dame starter, center Temidayo Yussuf, also missed two free throws with 11 seconds left. If any of those free throws had fallen through the title game would have gone to overtime. If the Pilots had split the group of four, they would have won.

Instead, they were the victim of yet another unlikely buzzer beater in the throws of high school March Madness.

"These guys are never out of a game,” Horizon coach Tyrone Hopkins told the Times. “They always believe.

“[And Underwood has] ice water in his veins.”

Here's another view of Underwood's state title-winner.

It’s a natural tendency to comb the NCAA Tournament for the next wave of NBA stars. It’s just as similar to look for tomorrow’s college stars in the high school ranks. What is truly rare, however, is to see a player who could already compete two levels up starring on a junior circuit.

DeAndre Ayton is definitely that, despite being months away from his first high school class. At 14, the Class of 2017 star could become even more impressive once he gets a bit more seasoning.

At the moment, Ayton is more than impressive enough on pure talent alone to merit serious consideration to his ability to make an impact on the NCAA level. Would the current San Diego (Ca.) Balboa Prep player be a star? Maybe not, but the 6-foot-10, 200-pounder is so athletic and agile, with a decent mid range shot, that he would certainly find his way on to the court.

Then again, you can judge for yourself. The video you see above was captured over the course of one single weekend tournament, with plenty of those plays coming a mere 45 minutes after he ambled off a plane in Salt Lake City.

What’s most impressive about the Bahamian native (he is of Nigerian descent, but was born in the Bahamas) is his willingness to run the floor, play tough defense and bang on the boards.

That being said, it’s hard not to be captivated by Ayton’s explosive dunks. At 14, the middle schooler is already throwing down jams in traffic, powering home putback dunks and elevating on the break to flush home with authority.

Add to that Ayton’s remarkable shooting touch -- how many 6-foot-10 players do you see stroking threes in the NBA, let alone prep ball? -- and his comfort handling the ball on the break and it’s clear to see why he will almost surely enter high school as the top overall prospect in the Class of 2017.

An unruly brawl at a Canadian youth hockey game on Saturday got so out of hand that police in Ontario are now investigating the incident to determine if charges should be brought against one or more of the parents involved.

Beware before you press play below: Some explicit language is involved, right from the get-go.

As reported by the Canadian Press, among other sources (Online Sports Guys among them), a Bantam Pee Wee C youth hockey game between a team from Tweed and a Six Nations squad was the surprising site of a major brawl in the stands between parents of the two teams. The fight was captured on camera and uploaded to YouTube on Sunday.

This isn't the first time that parents have gotten overly aggressive at a youth hockey game -- as was proven all too well in February -- but it might be the most dramatic and physical case.

After a parent of a Six Nations player told a group of Tweed parents to "Come over here and get it, you [expletive]," a group of Tweed parents did just that. The result was a major melee between both sides, with multiple adults throwing punches, wrestling and eventually requiring a number of other bystanders to pull them apart.

The fight occurred at the finals of a Bantam Hockey league, with the game played in Tweed, a town roughly at the midpoint between Toronto and Ottawa. The nature of the game, with a title on the line, apparently led to some pregame activities, with parents from the Six Nations squad telling the Bellevue Intelligencer that their counterparts from homestanding Tweed were drinking in the parking lot before the game and spent much of the contest aggressively heckling Six Nations players.

Flint Beecher star Monte Morris sits on the court after winning a state title with the flu — MLive.com/The Flint Journal

Monte Morris had a heck of a weekend. He entered the state finals shortly after being told that he was selected as the Hal Shram Michigan Mr. Basketball. He was one win away from a second consecutive Michigan High School Activities Association Class C state title.

He had the flu.

Naturally, that last aspect of Morris’ weekend made the earlier parts less enjoyable. Usually, it would rule a player out of a game. Yet Morris didn’t give up, instead channeling his inner Michael Jordan to lead Flint (Mi.) Beecher High to a state crown in a narrow, 40-39 victory against Laingsburg (Mi.) High, as covered by MLive.com and the Detroit Free Press, among other outlets.

Fittingly, Morris was the man who made the difference for Beecher. The senior Iowa State signee scored a game-high 16 points and sealed the victory with a blocked shot in the closing seconds that would have won the title for Laingsburg (you can see plenty of great images from the game right here).

According to the Detroit Free Press, Morris then retreated to the bathroom, where he vomited four times while reeling with exhaustion from the game.

"I told myself it was a mind-set, I just had to finish it," Morris told the Free-Press. "I would regret it the rest of my life if I didn't finish the game. I just wanted to go out without any doubts. … The pain was bad, and I was woozy."

Regardless of how he felt, Morris made sure that he was walking home with another title. This time, he clinched his crown with a block that was inspired by the last time Beecher didn’t win the title, when Morris was a sophomore.

There’s a new all-time record holding squad in girls lacrosse, and their streak of consecutive victories is going to awfully hard to catch.

The McDonogh girls lacrosse team has won a national record 74 consecutive games — Balitmore Sun via Facebook

As noted by the Baltimore Sun and a variety of other outlets, the Owings Mills (Md.) McDonogh School girls lacrosse team won its 74^th consecutive game on Saturday, knocking off Newtown Square (Pa.) Episcopal School, 17-3, to surpass the previous mark of 73 consecutive victories held by Carle Place (N.Y.) High in the mid 1980s. The Eagles haven’t lost a single game since the 2009 season.

What’s more impressive than the sheer heft of McDonogh’s streak is the quality of opponent the team has knocked off on its journey through the record books. In 2013 alone, the team has already knocked off two other members of the preseason Nike/US Lacrosse girls top-25 … and those games weren’t even particularly close. McDonogh (yes, it’s ranked No. 1) knocked off preseason No. 11 Vero Beach (Fl.) High by a score of 12-6 and No. 19 Milton (Ga.) Academy 11-8.

The road ahead won’t get any easier, either. According to the Baltimore Sun, the team began the season with six teams in the preseason top-25 on their 19-game regular season schedule. More than half of the top-15 ranked teams in the Baltimore Sun’s regional top-15 also feature against McDonogh.

So, how can a team possibly face such tough opposition and continue to cruise to victories? The answer, according to McDonogh senior attacker Sammi Burgess, it’s all about focusing on one game, practice and even play at a time.

"[McDonogh head coach Chris Robinson] has always made it very clear that it's not really about the streak or anything like that," Burgess told the Sun. "It's about game-by-game situations. He wants the pressure to be off of us. Obviously, we would love to continue the streak, but it's really about focusing on the opponents that we play and playing good lacrosse rather than on keeping the dynasty going."

That focus is enhanced by a sense of complete buy-in among Robinson’s squads. According to the Sun, one key hallmark of McDonogh teams has been a deep bench, with as many 18 or 19 players receiving regular playing time every season. That’s a stark contrast with many prep lacrosse teams which lean heavily on nine starters (not counting a goalie) and rotate in as few as four or five other players.

The Monett girls basketball team, which was reportedly victim of a urine prank — BeRecruited

A girls basketball rivalry in Missouri was the impetus for a disgusting prank when members of the Cassville (Mo.) High squad reportedly urinated in a cup and poured their liquid waste into a cooler of drinking water used by the rival Monett (Mo.) High team.

As reported by the Monett Times and Missouri TV network KY3, four members of the Cassville girls basketball team urinated in a cup before their team’s game against Monett. One of those four cups was then emptied into the Monett team’s drinking water container, which the squad used throughout its game, which was played on February 4.

Cassville officials reportedly learned of the incident on Tuesday, at which point they contacted Monett officials, who in turn mailed out a letter to parents of the Monett team, apologizing for the incident and noting that Cassville was in the process of deciding whether or not additional punishment for the players in question is still needed. The Cassville Superintendent, Jill LeCompte, noted that the four teens involved have all been disciplined in an unnamed form for their actions.

In the meantime, the girl whose urine was used in the prank is being put through a series of tests to determine if the contamination from her waste has put any of the Monett students at risk of illness.

While the Monett parents are understandably disappointed, disgusted and concerned about the welfare of their children, Monett administrators specifically asked that no retaliation be taken by members of the community.

Matt Poursoltani is one of the top physical football prospects in the class of 2013. Though he isn’t ranked among the nation’s best on national lists, he still merits quite a bit of consideration, for one very notable reason: He lifts more weight in the bench press than almost anyone in NFL history.

On Saturday, Poursoltani, a senior at Pilot Point (Tx.) High, bench-pressed 700 pounds. The weight was a new Texas state record, not to mention a personal record, topping 670 pounds, as he lifted 700 pounds. Yes, 700 pounds. To put that in perspective, the top NFL bench press mark is reportedly 705 pounds, as lifted by former Dallas Cowboys offensive guard Larry Allen.

While even coming near Allen would be a notable accomplishment of its own, doing so at Poursoltani’s size is even more remarkable. Allen tips the scales at 325 pounds, while Poursoltani weighs 270 pounds.

As noted by the Dallas Morning News, Poursoltani has improved his bench press max by more than 100 pounds in the span of a single year. At the 2012 state meet, Poursoltani’s best lift was 570 pounds. Now he tops out at 700.

Before anyone even consider whether Poursoltani has benefitted from performance enhancing substances, the powerlifting lineman wants to make sure that everyone knows he is committed to competing clean.

“If you need something to help you work out, you need to get out of the sport,” Poursoltani told the Morning News. “If you can’t drive yourself that hard to come in here and work out, then it’s probably just not for you.”

Longtime youth basketball coach Richard Dinizio — New York State Police

A disturbing incident has rocked a leafy New York City suburb after a longtime youth girls basketball coach was arrested and charged with sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl in 2010.

As reported by The Journal News, Cortland Manor, N.Y. resident Richard Dinizio, a 58-year-old youth basketball coach who traditionally focuses on the 12 and 13-year-old leagues, was arrested and charged with sexual assault in connection with allegations first launched by the friend of his daughter.

According to the arrest affidavit, Dinizio is accused of sexually abusing a young female when she was 10, though she was reportedly not a member of the Westchester Basketball Association youth girls basketball program, and was first introduced to the former coach by the coach's own daughter.

If convicted, Dinizio could face as many as 25 years in prison. Given the traces that authorities used to verify the relationship, including pornographic images of the victim on Dinizio’s computer and mobile devices, the now-former coach may not be interacting with children for much longer.

Equally concerning, of course, is the specter that Dinizio’s crimes could reach farther than one victim. The coach has been an active part of various youth basketball associations and schools for roughly 20 years, with authorities speculating that such a lengthy timeframe could be an indication that other victims are out there, still in hiding.