By todd traub
Leader sports editor
No one likes a clock-watcher, except maybe the Cabot Panthers.
Cabot was given one second and made it count Thursday when Clayton Vaught hit a buzzer beating three-pointer for a 48-47, comeback victory over Benton in the semifinals of the Central Arkansas Christian Invitational.
“Benton’s a good, quality team,” Cabot coach Jerry Bridges said.
“Gosh we don’t quit, we work hard and I’m just proud of our kids. I’m happy for them.”
Vaught’s shot was made possible when Cabot’s Chuck Mantione locked up with Benton’s Tyler Gattin for a jump ball in the corner near the Cabot goal as time appeared to expire.
But officials had already stopped play before the buzzer, and after a quick discussion, one second was put back on the clock. Darin Jones then fired the inbounds pass to Mantione on the left wing, and Vaught’s three-pointer rattled in to send the Panthers (3-5) to today’s championship.
“It’s not over until the end okay?” Bridges said. “We were embarrassed at our first quarter, we think we were better than that first quarter and we had a chance to prove it.”
Cabot appeared headed for the consolation round early as Benton roared out to a 24-7 lead by the end of the first quarter. Cabot outscored Benton 11-9 in the second quarter, but was still looking at a 33-18 halftime deficit thanks to Benton’s big first.
The Panthers played patiently in the second half, were more aggressive in attacking the basket and getting Benton into foul trouble and they shut down passing lanes to force a series of key turnovers.
“I just tried to stay calm and we just tried to tell them ‘Guys, our goal is to get it to eight after three and then we’ll see if we can make a run,’ ” Bridges said. “They didn’t quit and they started playing tough. I thought our young kids stepped in and helped carry the load until our seniors joined them.”
Jones drew J.C. Shelnutt’s fourth foul with 3:36 left in the third quarter and made both free throws to pull Cabot within 31-40. It was the first time Cabot was within 10 since the first quarter and the Panthers outscored Benton 10-4 the remainder of the third to pull within 44-41.
Jones made two more free throws after a Gattin foul to cut it to 45-44 with 3:28 left. Cabot got into the double bonus when Graham Gardner committed his fourth foul on Kai Davis with 2:12 remaining, and Davis made his second free throw to tie it at 45.
Vaught fouled Trey Davis contesting a pass with 46.8 seconds left, and Davis made both free throws to give Benton its 47-45 lead. Kai Davis missed a three-pointer for Cabot, but Mantione tied up Gattin after the rebound to set up the final play.
“I thought there was more than one second, a little bit, to be honest,” Bridges said. “When the whistle first blew, it was about 1.7 or eight but I ain’t complaining. Heck we stole one and I’m proud of our kids.”
Bridges gave credit to assistant Lee Wimberly for drawing up the game-winning play.
“He said Clayton would be open and he was open and there was a little luck on it but we’ll take it,” Bridges said.
Vaught made two three-pointers and led Cabot (3-5) with 17 points. Jones scored 11 and Kai Davis added 10.
“We’re a young, fragile team trying to learn to play this game and get better,” Bridges said. “And they’re great kids and I’m happy for them.”
Benton spread the ball around as nine players scored and Gattin led with 10 points, but Benton suffered a fourth-quarter outage in which it only managed three points against Cabot’s defense.
“We just didn’t execute,” Benton coach Chris Nail said. “Cabot plays hard, coach Bridges is a good friend of mine and a great coach. Nothing changed. We just quit executing and didn’t make shots.”
