DIVISION III BOYS: Rippetoe’s 65-footer keeps Lincoln County alive

Ryan Rippetoe saw the basketball leave his hand Friday, but he couldn’t believe the result.

With his Lincoln County squad down 71-70 and four seconds remaining in overtime, the senior dribbled the ball three times off an inbound and launched a 65-foot shot.

The ball grazed the rim on its way through, propelling the Lynx to a 73-71 victory over The Meadows in the Division III Southern League semifinal at Sunrise Mountain.

“It’s unreal,” Rippetoe said. “I’m on cloud nine right now. I would never have thought I would hit that shot.”

Lincoln County (22-6) will face Agassi Prep in the championship game at 4:15 p.m. Saturday at Sunrise Mountain.

Lincoln County battled back from a 30-27 halftime deficit to go up 62-56 with 2:20 left in the fourth quarter.

But The Meadows simply wouldn’t back down.

The Mustangs (16-14) went on an 8-2 swing that was capped by Eric Hirsberg’s game-tying 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds remaining.

In the overtime period, a pair of free throws from Adam Abdelaziz gave The Meadows a 71-70 advantage with 20.8 seconds remaining.

After a pair of missed shots, the stage was set for Rippetoe’s game-winner.

“I looked up on that clock and saw four seconds remaining and I knew I needed to shoot,” Rippetoe said. “This is the best moment I’ve ever had in my entire live.”

The forward finished with 29 points, including seven in the overtime period. Chandler Katschke added 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Lynx.

Abdelaziz finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Mustangs, and teammate Brian Fridman added 14 points.

Agassi Prep 50, Lake Mead 35 — Stars coach Wendell West hasn’t backed down on his big men this season.

“We’ve been on our bigs all year to take some pride in rebounding the ball,” West said. “There have been a lot of games where we’ve been out rebounded and lost the game.”

On Friday, they showed up.

Dennis Walker controlled both the offensive and defensive glass, hauling in 15 rebounds and blocking three shots. The sophomore finished with nine points.

“When that Dennis shows up, we’re hard to beat,” West said. “Teams are even scared to shoot the ball, because he’s that dominant on the boards.”

Steven Jones connected on five 3-pointers, scoring a game-high 18 points to ignite the Agassi Prep’s perimeter game.

Staked to a 22-19 lead at the break, the Stars (13-13) went on an 11-0 run midway through the third quarter to grab a commanding 33-19 advantage.

“It gave us a lot of momentum,” said Jones, who scored five points during the spurt. “My team told me to keep shooting. I listened and it paid off.”

With star point guard Justin Yamzon shelved with a season-ending knee injury, the Eagles (20-7) had trouble finding any sort of offensive spark.

Caleb Pitman supplied 10 points and eight rebounds for Lake Mead, which got 13 points from Wesley Brule.