Breaking Down the Play That Sent Blake Boys’ Basketball to States

With 10.7 seconds left in overtime and the score tied at 64 in the State Semifinal, Armani Fowlkes went to the foul line for two shots.  What happened over the remaining seconds of the game will live in Blake lore as the play that got us to the State Championship game.  Below, we’ll break down the scramble for the ball and the ensuing shot by Baba Oladotun to win.

With 10.7 seconds remaining in the game, Blake’s #5 Armani Fowlkes takes his free throws. He misses both, keeping the game tied at 64.

Immediately after Fowlkes’s second shot, players scramble for the ball under the basket. Baba gets a hand on the ball, as does Meade’s Arouna Soumaoro, who saves it from going out of bounds and throws it back under his own basket.

As soon as the ball is thrown back onto the court, five more players scramble for the ball. With only 9.8 seconds left of overtime, Meade’s Jayvon Thomas seemingly has a grasp of the ball, but then loses it immediately as Christian Kennard, Armani Folwkes, and Eli Konkler swipe to knock it through his legs.

At 9.3 seconds, Blake’s #4 Tahj Martin gets a hold of the ball for a split second.

With 8.8 seconds left on the clock, Martin quickly and instinctively shuffles the ball to Blake’s #10 Baba Oladotun, who collects and looks up at the basket.

At 8.2 seconds, Baba takes the shot before Meade can get in position to stop the shot.  He is met in the air by a defender, but the shot is on its way to the rim.  The crowd waits in suspense for the outcome.

Blake’s Baba Oladotun takes contact and makes the 6-ft bank shot, putting Blake up for good!

With the remaining seconds, Meade in-bounds the ball and makes a desperate heave across the court towards the basket, with the ball sailing over the backboard as the buzzer sounds.