For the Daily Journal
COLUMBUS
Drew Byerly was in the right place at the right time Saturday night.
Byerly got off a putback just before the buzzer sounded, and it banked in to give Franklin a 60-58 boys basketball victory at Columbus North, spoiling the Bull Dogs’ senior night.
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“The long rebound came to me, and I was able to get the shot in, and we were able to get the win,” Byerly said. “It was a cool experience and a good team win.”
The game featured four lead changes in the final two minutes. The Bull Dogs (15-6), who had trailed by as many as 10 points, took a 53-51 lead on a pair of free throws by Blake Barker with 1:50 remaining.
The Grizzly Cubs (15-7) regained the lead on a 3-pointer by Reece Thomson 10 seconds later. North got a basket from Reese Harmon to go back in front, but Thomson scored on a backdoor layup to give Franklin a 56-55 lead with 47 seconds left.
Thomson added a one-and-one for a three-point lead with 15 seconds remaining. Barker then was fouled shooting a 3-pointer and hit all three free throws to tie the game with 5.7 seconds left.
The Grizzly Cubs got the ball to Thomson, who missed a 3-pointer. But Byerly grabbed the ball at the elbow and banked it in.
“(Thomson) was the guy that we wanted,” Franklin coach Brad Dickey said. “We had a partner with him in front of him so he could shoot it or dump it down. He did a good thing by getting it up in the air, and then Drew cleaned it up.”
Thomson finished with 27 points, including 20 in the second half, to lead all scorers. Cory Richards added 16 for the Grizzly Cubs.
“We just had some good luck there at the end and got in the right spots a couple of times,” Dickey said. “We had played very well throughout the game and got maybe a little tired, a little weak with the ball on a couple of possessions. Then, we had to make up for it.”