Demyis Mayberry admits he was nervous Saturday night.
It didn’t show.
Mayberry, a senior guard for the New Hope High School boys basketball team, stepped to the free-throw line in the final game of the 18th-annual Joe Horne Columbus Christmas Invitational with his team trailing Columbus by one point with eight seconds remaining. Mayberry had two shots to give the Trojans a one-point lead.
Mayberry did just that, and eight seconds later, a last-second shot by Columbus clanged off the rim to give New Hope a 70-69 win to cap the annual tournament.
“I was definitely feeling the pressure,” Mayberry said. “But once the first one went in, I knew I was going to make the second one. That first one took all my nerves away.”
Mayberry didn’t look nervous on either attempt. New Hope coach Drew McBrayer never doubted the 6-foot-1 guard.
“I told the kids in the huddle we had to focus on defense in the last eight seconds,” McBrayer said. “I told them that after Demyis makes these, we have to play the ball. I knew he was going to hit those shots.”
Mayberry’s free throws capped a back-and-forth affair that featured five lead changes in the fourth quarter, a period marked by dramatic shots in front of a raucous overflow crowd that seemed to live and die with each turn of momentum.
“That’s what high school basketball is all about,” Columbus coach Sammy Smith said. “Credit goes to their kid. He stepped to the line and hit a couple of huge free throws. That’s something we didn’t do tonight. We missed too many free throws, so it was one of those games where we make a play, they make a play. In the end, they made one more play than we did.”
New Hope moved to 8-4 on the season, while Columbus fell to 8-3.
After Columbus guard Cameron Douglas connected on a layup to tie the score at 66 with 1 minute, 30 seconds remaining, New Hope’s Shemar Johnson (game-high 21 points) threw down a slam dunk off an alley oop from teammate Jaylon Bardley with 37 seconds left.
But after one free throw from Jay Jay Swanigan cut the lead to one point, Swanigan gave the Falcons the lead with 12 seconds remaining when he finished a layup set up by a beautiful no-look pass from freshman Robert Woodard (18 points, 14 rebounds).
Trailing by one with 12 seconds remaining, Mayberry took the inbounds pass and dashed to the frontcourt, where he was fouled on a running jumper with eight seconds left.
“It feels great,” said Mayberry, who had 16 points. “Two years ago, in my 10th-grade year, I got fouled shooting a 3-pointer at the buzzer. I made two of them but missed the third free throw and we lost that game. I waited a long time for another chance.”
While the free throws proved to be the difference, the game was memorable long before Mayberry stepped to the line. Neither team led by more than six points in an atmosphere each coach praised afterward.
“What more could a high school kid want?” McBrayer said. “Both these teams want to play at this level, and both are capable of it. To play in front of a crowd like this, in an atmosphere like this, this is everything you want as a player or coach. For us, it’s a huge, huge win. I told the kids we had an opportunity to grow up as a team this weekend, and that’s what they did.”
On Friday, New Hope rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat Meridian, the No. 2 team in the state, 58-56
On the other side, Smith also was blown away by the magnitude of the game, but he lamented the opportunities his team missed.
“It comes down to the free-throw line. They made theirs and we missed ours,” said Smith, whose team was 15 of 28 shots from the free-throw line. “Make those and we win the game. But credit goes to New Hope. They’re a great basketball team and they made theirs. They deserved it.”
Neither team created separation.
Columbus took a 5-0 lead one minute into the game. But New Hope stormed back to force an 18-18 tie after one quarter. Columbus led 39-37 at halftime. New Hope led 58-56 after three quarters.
The Trojans were led by Johnson, who had 15 of his 21 points in the first half.
“I was feeling it tonight. The energy of the crowd was picking me up,” Johnson said. “There was a lot of trash talk out there, good-natured stuff. It wasn’t anything serious. We were just all into the game and having fun playing against each other.”
Of Mayberry’s game-winning foul shots, Johnson said he shared his teammate’s apprehension.
“I was nervous for him,” Johnson said. “But once I saw him shoot that first one, I felt good about it. I knew he was going to make them.”
Terryonte Thomas added 12 points for New Hope, while Bardley 10.
Swanigan had 17 points for Columbus, while Douglas and guard JaVontae McDavid had 13.
New Hope will play Restoration Academy (Ala.) on Friday at the Slam Dunk at the Hump, a tournament hosted by Starkville High at Mississippi State’s Humphrey Coliseum.
Columbus won’t play again until Jan. 2 when it goes to Northwest Rankin.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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