LIMA — Lima Senior had seen what Derrick Rayford Jr. could do once before and it didn’t turn out well that time, either.
Rayford, a 6-foot senior guard for Toledo Whitmer, scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half, including the go-ahead shot with six seconds to play, when Whitmer beat Lima Senior 77-74 on Friday night in boys basketball.
Earlier this season, Rayford scored 24 points, including 16 in the second half, when Whitmer defeated the Spartans 63-54 at Whitmer.
“He’s a player and he makes plays. He has done it for us all year,” Whitmer coach Ryan Brown said. “This isn’t the first game he’s won for us at the buzzer. He has done it several times.”
Nick Witcher led Whitmer (15-6, 9-4 Three Rivers Athletic Conference) with 26 points and Avion Franklin had 20 points, including five 3-pointers.
Jarius Ward’s 34 points led Lima Senior (14-7, 9-5 TRAC).
It was a game where both teams shot very well and neither team’s defense could consistently get the upper hand.
Lima Senior shot 62 percent on field goals (31 of 50) and Whitmer shot 57 percent (29 of 51).
Whitmer led by eight points in the first quarter and again with three minutes left in the first half. But Lima Senior cut the lead to four points, 43-39, at halftime.
The Spartans opened the second half on an 11-2 run to go up 50-45 in the first two minutes of the third quarter. But the Panthers quickly erased that margin and the lead changed hands 12 times in the final 14 minutes.
Lima Senior took a 73-71 lead with 1:17 to play on a 3-pointer by B.J. Miller and increased its lead to 74-71 on a free throw by Miller the next time down the floor.
Whitmer got to within one point, at 74-73, on an inside move by Witcher. Then Rayford stepped up and got the go-ahead points on a drive and a left-handed lay-up off the glass with six seconds to play.
After a Lima Senior timeout, Whitmer stole the in-bounds pass, Rayford was fouled and he hit both ends of a one-and-one for a 77-74 lead with two seconds left in the game. After another timeout, Lima Senior got off a 3-point attempt by Ward but it was off the rim at the buzzer.
Even though both games against Whitmer were losses for Lima Senior, the Spartans coach Quincey Simpson said Friday night’s game was “very different from the last time.”
“The last time we played them we controlled the game for most of the game and let them get away in the fourth quarter.
“This time I thought they controlled the game. We made some good plays. Some guys gave us some excellent minutes off the bench but we just didn’t get the stops we needed,” Simpson said.
Simpson said the Spartans “did not pay attention to details,” mostly on defense. “We gave up five threes to Franklin and he had five threes at Whitmer. Rayford, just about all his points are going left.
“There have been times where we have not paid attention to details and still won. So maybe our guys can get something from this and really be locked in now going forward,” he said.
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