Williams nails FTs to lift Central past Notre Dame

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Central senior Andrew Williams was the ultimate hero Thursday night.

And he got to play that role against archrival Notre Dame, which made the experience even sweeter.

Williams made three free throws with no time on the clock, lifting Central to an incredible 48-47 win in the semifinals of the SEMO Conference boys basketball tournament at the Sikeston Field House.

"That's Cape-Notre Dame for you," Williams said. "It was unbelievable. And we'll probably see them two more times this season."

The second-seeded Tigers improved to 5-0 and will face top-seeded, two-time defending champion Sikeston for the title at 8:30 p.m. today. The third-seeded Bulldogs fell to 1-1 and will play fifth-seeded Jackson for third place at 7 p.m.

Notre Dame's Jacob Tolbert, left, and Nathan Meystedt try to steal the ball from Central's Garan Evans during the second quarter of their semifinal game at the SEMO Conference tournament Thursday in Sikeston, Mo.

"It was my first Cape-Notre Dame varsity game," said Central junior T.J. Tisdale, who played for the Tigers' junior varsity a year ago. "It was a great environment with all the fans here."

Central trailed virtually the entire contest before going ahead 43-42 on a Williams 3-pointer with 1 minute, 22 seconds left. It was the Tigers' first lead since 3-1.

The lead changed hands three times before Williams thought he had blown Central's shot at a victory when he missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 11.3 seconds left and Notre Dame ahead 46-45.

That came after Williams had missed three other free throws while also making three earlier in the contest.

"I was struggling with my shooting, and when I missed that one [with 11.3 seconds remaining], I really thought the game was over," Williams said. "But coach [Drew Church] said I should just keep my head up."

That advice came in handy after Jacob Tolbert, Notre Dame's 6-foot-7 senior standout, hit 1 of 2 free throws with 5.3 seconds left to make it 47-45.

Central senior Justin Espinoza rebounded the miss of Tolbert's second attempt and quickly got the ball to the 6-5 Williams, who took a few dribbles before firing a 3-pointer a couple of feet beyond the arc along the right side.

Williams clearly was hit on the arm by Notre Dame junior Joseph Siebert just a fraction before the buzzer sounded.

"Luckily, I got fouled," Williams said.

With the clock showing all zeros and Williams standing alone at the line, there still was the matter of him needing to make at least two of the three free throws to force overtime.

Williams' first attempt bounced around before falling through.

"The first one stuck on the rim for a while," Williams said. "After that went in, I said all I need is one out of two to go to overtime."

Williams swished the second foul shot.

"Then I said I might as well win it," Williams said.

Which Williams did by swishing the final free throw as he was mobbed by his teammates.

"It was a good teaching point because he missed some early and he was down but he stayed with it," Church said. "Those were really clutch free throws."

Notre Dame coach Kevin Roberts, who didn't dispute the foul call, said all credit goes to Williams. And he emphasized that none of the blame should go to Siebert.

"It was a foul, but the game wasn't one play. Joseph had a good game," Roberts said. "He [Williams] missed a bunch earlier, but he's clutch."

The 6-5 Tisdale had a huge performance, scoring a game-high 23 points to give the Tigers a strong inside presence to combat the talents of Tolbert, a Division I prospect.

Tisdale scored 17 of his points in the second half, including 11 in the third quarter as he helped keep Central within striking distance.

"It's the best game I've had," Tisdale said.

Williams was Central's other double-figure scorer with 12 points.

Tolbert paced Notre Dame with 17 points. Junior guard Nathan Meystedt had 14 points, 10 in the second half.

"Nathan is starting to develop into our second best player," said Roberts, whose squad returned just one starter from last year in Tolbert. "We'll be all right once we figure it out."

Central trailed by 12 points late in the first half and it was 23-15 at the break. The Tigers' biggest second-half deficit was 39-30 early in the fourth quarter, but they kept chipping away.

The Tigers hurt themselves by making just 4 of 11 first-half free throws and missing numerous point-blank shots over the opening two periods.

"We didn't come out and play particularly well," Church said. "We gave away easy stuff early to put ourselves in a hole. But we battled. I was very proud of the effort."

Notre Dame 9 14 11 13 -- 47

Central 9 6 13 20 -- 48

NOTRE DAME (47) -- Jonathan Lynch 8, Nathan Meystedt 14, Joseph Siebert 3, Jacob Tolbert 17, Cody Heisserer 5. FG 14, FT 15-21, F 21. (3-pointers: Lynch 2, Siebert 1, Tolbert 1. Fouled out: none)

CENTRAL (48) -- Andrew Williams 12, T.J. Tisdale 23, James Lane 4, Garan Evans 2, Justin Espinoza 2, Zach Boerboom 5. FG 17, FT 12-22, F 16. (3-pointers: Williams 2. Fouled out: Boerboom)