Putnam's seven-point lead was erased over the final two and a half minutes of regulation. But the Beavers regrouped in overtime for the first state championship in school history.
WORCESTER – Even before Saturday night’s state championship game against Mansfield, Putnam senior forward KayJuan Bynum told his teammates that he wanted to commemorate a title by soaking coach William Shepard.
Yet after Putnam experienced more pronounced ups and downs than a bungee jumper during a 50-48 overtime victory at the DCU Center, the Beavers botched the execution on the final touch. As Shepard discussed the first state championship in Putnam’s 75-year history, only his right sleeve dripped with Gatorade.
“That’s okay," he laughed, thankful that the sports drink hadn't been poured on his head. "These kids needed to release some steam, because I’ve been on them all year. But now they know why. I saw the potential. I said, ‘Guys, I’m not lowering the expectation level. It’s not going to be lowered. You guys are going to reach this level because you’re capable of it.’ And they showed it (Saturday night).”
The win was about as easy as putting together IKEA furniture while blindfolded, as simple as reading a Virginia Woolf book backwards and in a foreign language. Putnam trailed by seven at halftime, led by seven with two minutes left, and still needed overtime to prevail. Mansfield hit three free throws with 5.5 seconds left in regulation to force an extra session, drilled a 3-pointer to tie the game again with 19.9 seconds left in overtime, and missed a 17-foot jumper at the buzzer that would have resulted in double OT.
Putnam players all seemed to agree it was the craziest game they’d ever played.
“Definitely, with no question about it,” said sophomore guard Jonathan Garcia.
No question at all. Putnam spent the entire season avoiding adversity, but kept coming back for extra helpings of it Saturday. The Beavers scored only 17 points in the first half, including just two over the last six minutes of the second quarter. Mansfield found a hole in the 3-2 zone defense Putnam had used so successfully during the playoffs, and exploited it to the tune of an 11-2 run to close the half. Shepard hadn’t been able to do much scouting of Mansfield – what he knew about the team, he said, came from a couple short YouTube clips and a few conversations with coaches who played Mansfield earlier in the season – so he knew he would have to make in-game adjustments. At halftime, he asked his players for some advice. They responded that they needed to take away the free throw line with the zone defense.
As Garcia said: “We knew that (Mansfield star sophomore Brendan) Hill (12 points) was a distributor from the middle, so we wanted the ball out of his hands as much as possible. If he had it, he would shoot it, and if not he would hit the corner. So we stopped allowing the middle pass, and we got a couple turnovers and deflections.”
Turnovers and deflections are to Putnam what spinach is to Popeye. The Beavers scored 12 of the first 14 points in the third quarter, and entered the fourth quarter tied at 31. Mansfield took a 33-31 lead early in the fourth quarter on a perfectly-designed alley-oop lay-in, but Putnam delivered the next nine points to take a 40-33 advantage with two and a half minutes left. The final bucket in that run came when Dizel Wright (13 points) leaped above the rim to swat an unsuspecting Mansfield player’s layup off the backboard, kick-starting a fast break the other way.
“I had slipped up on ‘D.’ He saved me,” explained sixth man Ty Nichols, who had eight points. “I feel (Wright and Garcia) are the best defensive players in the state. Not Western Mass., but the state.”
“That was amazing. We were talking about it a lot, opposite side has to drop, and he did it right there. Whoa,” said Bynum, who scored 15 points. “Dizel and Jon-Jon (Garcia) together, it’s madness. They seem to always be on fast breaks somewhere.”
With the Beavers pulling away, it felt like any other Putnam second half.
Said Garcia: “Coach compares it to a boxing match. First half, they’re blowing back with us. The second half is when they get winded, and that’s when we start to take over because we’re conditioned, we like to run the floor, we’re athletic.”
Except Mansfield wouldn't stay down for a 10-count. A Mike Boen and-one cut Putnam’s lead to four with 2:17 left. Then Putnam uncharacteristically stumbled. A turnover by Nichols. Two missed free throws by Garcia. A five-second violation on an inbounds pass. A botched fast break layup. A travel by Bynum when he fell down with the basketball.
“Believe,” a Mansfield fan kept shouting. Boen drilled a three with 35.7 seconds left to bring Mansfield within 40-39. When Bynum made two free throws, Putnam needed just one stop. But after the Beavers forced an airball, they couldn’t corral the rebound. The ball went out of bounds to Mansfield with 7.5 seconds left and timeout was called.
“Inside the huddle, Coach said, ‘Do not foul. Do not foul. That’s all we wanted, was not to foul,’” said David Murrell, who poured in 11 points.
But Ryan Boulter caught the pass. After he immediately turned to shoot, Putnam fouled him on a 3-pointer with 5.5 seconds left.
“I didn’t think he’d make all three,” Murrell said.
“Usually you don’t see that in high school, hitting three free throws in a row. I was mad.” Wright added. “I don’t know who that is, but he’s one of the clutchest players I’ve ever played against.”
Ki-shawn Monroe failed to get off a shot before the buzzer and the game went into overtime. Finally, Putnam had its first real date with adversity.
Shepard had spent all season coaching Putnam to be prepared for such a moment. He ended many practices through the year sharing life lessons with the boys, things that extended far outside the realm of sports. He provided discipline and structure. “Defense and conditioning, and defense and conditioning, and defense and conditioning, and then we go home,” Nichols described practices.
But through 24 games entering the state final, the Beavers hadn’t run into many overwhelming obstacles. Sure, there was the four-point loss to West Springfield. But that came without Wright. At full strength, Putnam was unbeaten. Excluding that loss without Wright, the Beavers entered Saturday outscoring opponents by 24.3 points per game. All of their 23 wins came by at least nine points, with 21 of them by double figures.
The ride had been peaceful until Saturday’s patch of turbulence.
“It seemed like everything was going against us,” Garcia said.
At the end of regulation, said Wright, “I wasn’t comfortable. But as soon as we got to overtime, we went into a huddle. Our coach gave us a little speech, got us plugged in. He told us, ‘Four more minutes and we’re state champions.’”
The four minutes packed more action than a Jason Statham movie. Putnam edged ahead with two Bynum free throws. Boulter struck again with a 3-pointer to give Mansfield a one-point advantage. Bynum got fouled again and sunk two more free throws, giving him nine straight makes from the charity stripe. “Honestly, my free throw percentage is not the best on the team,” he joked. “But I love clutch situations. That’s why I became a quarterback (in football).” When Nichols worked a pick-and-roll to perfection with a layup underneath, Putnam had a 48-45 lead with 50 seconds left.
Things could have been easy from there, but Boulter wasn’t done demonstrating an utter lack of nerves. After he hit a three to tie the game with 19.9 seconds left, Wright said: “He kept pushing back the celebration.”
Putnam went back to a play it ran several times during the overtime: Nichols and Bynum executing a pick-and-roll. The plan was for Nichols to draw Mansfield's center on a switch, then either beat the center off the dribble or find Bynum matched against a smaller guard. Nichols decided to work himself this time, and was fouled with 7.5 seconds left.
Before he went to the free throw line, he said, "My coach pulled me to the side. He said, 'Ty, you got these. You got these.' And that's what really helped me. Confidence from the coaches takes people a long way."
Both the charity shots went in.
Shepard has a way of accomplishing two simultaneous feats that seem oxymoronic: he demands that his players be better while letting them know they're good enough. All season long, he showed faith in his players while pushing them to reach their best. JV call-up Eddie Maldonado was used during the Western Mass. final. He drilled a key three. Nichols, a sixth man, albeit an explosive one, was trusted handling the ball during crunch time. He responded with the two biggest free throws in Putnam history. Murrell didn't play a great first half against Central in the Western Mass. final. After encouragement from the coaching staff, he had 16 points in the second half. Bynum had just two points and two rebounds in the first half Saturday. He finished with 15 points and was a menace on the glass after Shepard called him out at halftime.
"Usually, rebounding is something I do. Basically, they were just out-physicaling me in the first half, which is something that never happens," Bynum said. "And I said, 'Coach, you're right. If I'm not going to grab the board, I'm going to make sure somebody else doesn't grab the board.'"
After Nichols drained his free throws, Putnam called timeout. Shepard explained to his players what he called a "poetic justice." All season long, the Beavers relied on their defense to start their own runs and squelch opponents'. It was only fitting, he told them, that the state championship game would come down to getting one final stop. He called for the 3-2 zone defense, but Bynum disagreed with the call. The senior leader believed the zone might surrender an open 3-pointer, and requested a man-to-man defense instead.
Shepard wasn't too proud to listen.
"He's been doing it all year, making the right calls," the coach said. And then he laughed. "He is the quarterback of the football team."
Garcia picked up Mansfield point guard Ryan DeAndrade (10 points) full court. To hear Garcia describe the final play is to understand how he could be so vital while going scoreless.
"I noticed we weren't over the limit in fouls. So at least, I was going to foul him before giving up any easy layups or easy shots," he said. "When he stepped back, I felt like I was aggressive and long enough to recover. So I had my hand in his face and it was tough to see the basket, and he airballed."
Only the celebration remained. Murrell and Bynum did a little dance. "I don't even know what that was," Murrell laughed. "I was just so happy." The whole team stood behind Bynum with arms locked while he gave a television interview. A few players wondered what the headlines would say. "Putnam wins its first state championship," said one. "Don't forget 'in school history,'" added another.
Shepard believed all along that this run was more significant than basketball. He wanted to give Springfield reason to swell with pride, to show what Putnam students can accomplish. He wanted to teach his players lessons they'll remember long after sports. He demanded that his players reach a level of basketball success never previously attained at the school, that they be ready for adversity even when most of the season brought nothing of the sort.
And when the season provided its most threatening challenge, Putnam responded.
"You're not going to squish us down just because you made a shot," Murrell said.
Lessons learned.