By Todd Wills
Matt Pressey brings all the intangibles you need to win a game in the final seconds.
He’s added a new weapon this season — the 3-point shot.
Pressey worked tirelessly on his long range shot last summer and it paid off for No. 2 Navarro in Wednesday night’s heart-stopping 66-64 victory over No. 22 Trinity Valley at the Wolens Special Events Center.
Pressey, who struggled with his shooting most of the night, nailed a cold-blooded 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds left to give the Runnin’ Bulldogs a 65-64 lead. Pressey’s shot came off a long rebound after Jantzen Carter missed from behind the arc.
“Pressey didn’t make many tonight,” Navarro coach Johnny Estelle said. “I’m not happy with the execution tonight, but winning is better than losing. We fought hard.”
Pressey’s shot finished off an improbable victory for Navarro (14-1), which trailed by as many as 15 points twice in the second half, the last time down 54-39 with 7:13 left in the game.
Navarro finally went on a 15-2 run to pull within 56-54 on Pressey’s drive with 4:40 left in the game. But even after that, the Runnin’ Bulldogs didn’t get their first lead until Jourdain Allou made two free throws with 2:20 left for a 59-58 lead.
After Trinity Valley’s Chris Blake made two free throws to give the Cardinals back the lead, Pressey scored on a drive and made 1 of 2 free throws for a 62-60 lead.
Still Navarro trailed 64-62 after a turnover and a Trinity Valley basket left the Runnin’ Bulldogs trailing by two with 22 seconds left, setting up the dramatic finish.
Pressey scored from the right angle of the 3-point line near the Navarro bench for the 1-point lead. Trinity Valley then turned the ball over with its inbound stepped on the line, and Darian Thibodeaux made 1 of 2 free throws for the final margin. The Cardinals missed a three-quarters court shot at the buzzer.
Pressey scored 11 of Navarro’s final 14 points. He finished the game with 21 points.
Something to take out of Wednesday’s game — the Runnin’ Bulldogs are going to get into game at the regional tournament like the one Trinity Valley forced them into. They have 16 games to build on after Wednesday’s struggle.
Navarro is going to have to make free throws and grind out a victory. The Runnin’ Bulldogs made only 20 of 38 free throws.
Navarro also had 26 turnovers and gave up 13 points off of errors in the first half as Trinity Valley led 35-27 at halftime.
The point guard position is still a work in progress for the Runnin’ Bulldogs, but Jantzen Carter’s play got better in the second half. He showed great toughness. Navarro had a combined 10 points, four assists, five turnovers and five steals from the trio of Carter, Jimmy Jones and Sam Ferguson.
“I’m glad our kids stepped up,” Estelle said. “Jantzen had a big steal and he got knocked down a few times.”
