Augustus' 3 near buzzer lifts 'Jacks past Lutcher

Stephen Curry, a point guard for the Golden State Warriors, is accepted widely as the best shooter in the NBA.
But in Patterson, it’s Nehemiah “Menace” Augustus.
The senior sharpshooter hit a game-winning three-pointer near the buzzer Friday to lift Patterson to a 59-56 Class 3A first-round playoff win against Lutcher.
No. 5 Patterson (22-4) and No. 28 Lutcher (21-10) went toe-to-toe for much of the night with the game coming down to the final 1:12 with the game tied at 56.
Lutcher’s Tugg Maddie made 1-of-2 free throws to give the Bulldogs a 56-55 lead before Patterson’s Tyric Garrett converted 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game at 56.
Patterson fouled Maddie again with 33 seconds left. He missed both free throws, and Patterson held the ball before Patterson Coach Ryan Taylor called a timeout with just more than 12 seconds left.
Coming out of the timeout, the Lumberjacks got the ball to Augustus and spread the floor. The Lutcher defender decided to take the drive away from Augustus, but Augustus dribbled between his legs and stepped back for the game-winning basket.
“Coach told me that I’m the leader of the team, so at times like this, the ball will be in my hands,” Augustus said. “I just tried to take advantage of it, and with the game being tied 56-56, I felt like I could do anything with the ball because if I missed, it would have went to overtime, but when I shot it, I knew it was going in because I shot it in rhythm.”
It was Augustus’ second game-winning basket of the season.
“I think we were lucky enough to make one more play than them tonight,” Taylor said. “A special player made a special play. He’s one of our best passers, maybe our best creator off the dribble, and he’s strong enough to get through contact. We knew it was going to be this type of game, because Lutcher isn’t your usual 28-seed. They are one of the best teams in the state. They just had some stuff happen that was out of their control early this year.”
Lutcher played a box-and-1 defense on Taylan Grogan, who had been handling the bulk of the ’Jacks’ scoring late this season.
“We’ve seen that all season, and we expect it,” Taylor said. “But that plays into our hands because Nehemiah is a tough one-on-one matchup for anybody.”
Patterson, winners of 15 straight, led 31-25 at halftime.
Augustus led Patterson with 20 points; Kenneth Washington, 16; Grogan, 12; D.J. Jones, five; and Jordan Butler and Kobe Gray, three each.
Brendon Taylor led Lutcher with 17 points, while Maddie had 14.
Patterson will host No. 12-seed Green Oaks in regional round action Tuesday. Green Oaks defeated No. 21 Bogalusa 69-38 Friday in other first-round action.