Ferris Staggered At State 3-Pointer At Buzzer Topples Saxons
REPLAY: From Sports, March 13, 1998: Jason Johnson of Rogers-Puyallup High School is headed to the University of Arizona to play quarterback next year. A story in Thursday’s paper had the wrong university. UNPUBLISHED CORRECTION: The name of football player Jeremey Williams is misspelled in this story. The correct spelling was confirmed by his mother.
Maybe Ferris did too good a job of taking the big guy out of the game.
With 6-foot-9 Michael Palm covered, point guard Jason Johnson let a 3-pointer fly just before the buzzer. The shot dropped through and Rogers of Puyallup dropped the Saxons into the losers’ bracket with a stunning 40-39 win in the first round of the State 4A boys basketball tournament at the Kingdome on Wednesday.
“I hit one like that in junior high, but nothing to compare like this,” said Johnson. “Sweet. The greatest feeling in the world.”
Andre Atkins had given Ferris a 39-37 lead with a 3-pointer from the right wing with 4 seconds to play. The Rams called a timeout at 3.3 but the clock was pushed back to 4.2.
Rogers’ plan for the final play was to go to Palm, who averages 20 points a game. But the Saxons, who limited Palm to two shots, one basket and seven points, had him covered, leaving it up to Johnson.
“I was looking for Palm,” said Johnson, who took the inbounds pass, dribbled up the left side, went to the top of the key and then into the corner.
“They picked him up and I took it to the corner and shot. At the top of the key, I saw I couldn’t get the ball to Mike. I knew that’s all I could do.”
“I would have liked to see us stop the dribble and make them pass,” Ferris coach Wayne Gilman said. “We’ve won some games like that. … Those things average out I guess.”
A pass might have been all the Saxons needed to survive.
Johnson, who is bound for Arizona State to play quarterback on the football team, was an unlikely hero, considering he shot just three times, made two, and was 1 of 4 from the foul line,
The fourth-ranked Saxons (20-6), third here a year ago, can now finish no higher than fifth. They play Bellarmine Prep (18-9) at 10:30 this morning. Second-ranked Rogers (23-3) plays Davis (21-6), which struggled before edging Bellarmine 50-49 in overtime.
Both Ferris and Rogers were patient and suffered from cold shooting, especially the Saxons.
The score was 6-6 after one quarter, 21-18 for Rogers after two and 29-28 for Ferris after three.
“We didn’t hit our shots real well, especially early,” Gilman said. “Their defense was real solid. They did a good job of not giving us good looks.”
The Saxons, generally an above-average shooting team, made just 3 of 19 3-pointers. They shot 20 percent in the first half and finished at 29 percent (14 of 48).
There were nine lead changes. The biggest lead for the Saxons was three points, and Rogers never led by more than four, the last time at 35-31 with less than a minute to go.
Ferris senior Tommy Servine, who led all scorers with 18 points, hit a turnaround from the right wing to make it a two-point deficit with 58 seconds to play. Servine put Ferris up 36-35 with the three-point play with 35 seconds to go.
The Rams then missed several shots but grabbed the rebound before Palm was fouled. His two free throws with 12 seconds left set the stage for Atkins to become a temporary hero.
Rogers 40, Ferris 39
Ferris 6 9 14 10 -39
Rogers-Puyallup 6 12 10 12 -40
FERRIS - Biggerstaff 0 0-0 0, Servine 6 4-7 18, Atkins 3 0-0 7, Sleeth 0 0-0 0, Watts 1 0-0 2, Hodl 2 0-0 4, Williams 2 2-5 6. Totals 14 8-14 39. ROGERS-PUYALLUP - Lee 3 0-1 7, Johnson 2 1-4 6, Clancy 4 2-2 12, Dillon 0 0-1 0, McHugh 1 0-0 2, Bell 0 0-0 0, Cardin 2 2-2 6, Palm 1 5-6 7. 3-point goals - Servine 2, Atkins, Lee, Johnson, Clancy 2. Total fouls - Ferris 17, Rogers 13. , DataTimesILLUSTRATION: Color Photo
MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: TODAY’S GAME Ferris vs. Bellarmine Prep at 10:30 a.m.