It's a shot that every kid who's every picked up a basketball fantasizes about. Few get to see it become a reality. Oakley Dehning did Saturday afternoon at the Denver Colisuem.
In a tie game with just 12.5 seconds left on the clock, the Longmont junior hit a game-winning 3 pointer from the right wing to lift his team to a state championship, as the Trojans beat Lewis Palmer 62-59 in the 4A boys' basketball title.
"Back on the backyard portable hoop, it's always been a dream of mine," junior Oakley Dehning said. "It's amazing. I can't even describe the feeling."
Maybe it won't set in for a couple of days. But it's real. The Longmont Trojans are state champs.
Longmont built a 16-point lead in the third quarter before the Rangers came roaring back. Joel Scott--who finished with 24 points--took over for Lewis Palmer down the stretch. He completed an epic comeback with a steal and a layup in transition to tie the game with under a minute to go.
That's when Dehning--who is also the quarterback of the Longmont football team--came through in a moment he'll remember for the rest of his life.
With the clock winding down, Brady Renk beat his defender on his way to the lane. The defense collapsed, and on the kick out, Dehning was alone in the corner. He caught the pass and drilled the go-ahead 3-pointer to send the packed Longmont student section into a frenzy.
Lewis Palmer did have a couple of late chances, but Scott got called for a charge, and then Matthew Ragsdale's potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer was just a little too long.
When the horn sounded, Dehning ran down the court with his pointer finger in the air. He knew his team had won it all.
A big reason why was the play of star point guard Luke Johnson. The senior was sensational all night, finishing with a team-high 23 points that had Longmont out in front most of the way.
While Lewis Palmer was able to climb back in the game, the Trojans never let the Rangers take the lead down the stretch. And when the clock hit zero, the celebration began--as the players, coaches and fans got to relish the school's first boys' basketball title since 1942.
