Last-second Lincoln-Sudbury shot just short in boys basketball tourney defeat in Cambridge

CAMBRIDGE – Lincoln-Sudbury trusted the players on the floor to find the right shot. The No. 22 Warriors trailed No. 11 Cambridge Rindge & Latin by three with 7.5 seconds left on the road.

Nolan Martindale received the inbounds pass and dribbled to the 3-point line. He opened a window with a few seconds remaining and raised for the tying 3. It fell a bit short and right, as the Falcons exhaled following a 61-58 Division 1 Round of 32 victory Friday. They will face No. 6 BC High in the Sweet 16 Tuesday.

"We had multiple guys, multiple options that play. Coach puts a lot of trust in us," L-S senior Ryan Dooley said. "It was whoever had the best shot, take it."

L-S gave Cambridge its best shot. The Warriors wanted a competitive matchup before the game. They granted their own wish.

The Warriors trailed the Falcons by eight with 1:09 left. That would have dropped most teams heads and sent them to the spring season. Instead junior Paul Conway, who finished with a team-high 17 points, pulled up from a few feet behind the 3-point line with 40 seconds remaining, cashing a 3 to cut the Cambridge advantage to 60-55.

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L-S swarmed the inbounds pass to the corner, forcing a jump ball. Cambridge only hit 1-of-2 free throws, and Conway struck again from even further out to make it a 3-point game.

The Warriors pounced on the inbound pass but were whistled for a foul. The Falcons missed the first free throw and were called for a lane violation on the second make that would have iced the game with 7.5 seconds to go.

"As long as we keep fighting, there's still a chance," L-S coach Linda Martindale said. "That's been our whole season."

Neither team separated by more than two possessions for the first three quarters. The Warriors only turned the ball over three times before halftime but gave it a away four times in the third quarter alone.

"We started dribbling the ball, and they like to get a handle on it. They started to poke," Linda Martindale said. "All of a sudden we're turning the ball over, and were giving them second chances."

L-S didn't score for the first 7:20 of the fourth quarter. Conway hit a jumper near the third-quarter buzzer to put the Warriors ahead 52-50 for the final time. Cambridge ripped off a 10-0 run that ultimately won it the game.

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Parrris Sueksagan Moses canned a 3 through contact to give the Falcons the lead for good 53-52 with 7:14 left and hit the free throw for good measure. He tied for a game-high 20 points with his teammate Jeffrey White, who battled foul trouble in the second half.

Dooley had 15 in his final game for L-S. He was one of five seniors along with Peter Abair, Ryan Cope, Ryan Bettenhauser and Osmany Martinez.

"Ryan Dooley is the most valuable player in this league, hands down. He does so much more than the stats. He avarages 18 points and nine rebound per game. That has nothing to do with why he's valuable," Linda Martindale said. "He's a team player. He's the captain who serves. He sets the example, and they all follow."

He wasn't satisfied after the Warriors finished 7-13 last season and decided to do something about it, changing the culture.

"After last season, we were pretty bummed out. Our leadership was lacking. We as captain and as seniors, we realized this isn't what we want," Dooley said. "We wanted to create a team where everybody's on the same page."

That group is leaving a legacy of playing unselfish basketball and staying in a game until the bitter end.

"They were grateful to have this opportunity. We're a program that's building. We're a program that traditionally has not gone deep into the playoffs," Linda Martindale said. "The goal was to compete. It's a one-possession game. We competed to the very, very end. It was exactly what we wanted to do."

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Lincoln-Sudbury basketball last-second shot falls short at Cambridge