CENTRE – Sand Rock sophomore guard Drew Norris knew things were looking bleak for the Wildcats.

With just 32 seconds left in the game, down by a bucket to the Cherokee County Warriors and one of the Wildcats’ top players in Brannon Burt on the bench after fouling out, he knew someone had to take charge.

And take charge he did.

Drew Norris positioned himself perfectly in the corner of the basket, with Riley Norris penetrating the middle. The ball was kicked out to Drew Norris, who drained a 3-pointer that put the Wildcats back out in front to stay in a 59-55 victory in the Cherokee Invitational championship game on Tuesday.

“I knew someone had to help step it up, and I figured why not me,” Drew Norris said. “Riley drove the lane and it helped me get open. When I shot it, I felt like it was going in, and it did.”

Added Sand Rock coach Brian Mackey: “I felt like we weren’t capitalizing (on late opportunities), and when Drew hit that three, it was like boom, now we’re up one. We just needed one more stop to win the game, and we got it.”

Just as clutch as Drew Norris’ 3-pointer were the free throws made by Riley Norris the remainder of the game. He connected on 3 of 4 in the game’s final 18 seconds to seal the Sand Rock (10-2) win.

“In the big situations, you’ve got to have big free throws,” the eighth-grader said. “Today was one of them.”

The Warriors (4-2) let a six-point advantage slip away from them with just under five minutes to go in the game. A charge called on senior guard Coty Blanchard with 2:34 left nullified an opportunity for the Warriors to stretch their lead even further.

Blanchard was later called for his fifth foul with 17.8 seconds left on a play in which he tripped and lost the ball to Riley Norris. Blanchard had to foul to prevent a Wildcat breakaway basket.

Riley Norris made the front end of his two shots, putting Sand Rock in front 57-55.

After a Warrior timeout, senior guard Keon Rucker had the ball stolen by Riley Norris, who was fouled and sent back to the line in which he calmly canned both free throws for the final.

“We had a good play set up, but we just didn’t take care of the basketball,” Warrior coach Kori Walker said of the steal. “Who knows what would have happened when Keon made the turn off the screen. We just didn’t take care of the ball and we didn’t get a chance to find out.”

Sand Rock jumped out on a 16-6 run to begin the game, but the Warriors whittled that deficit down to two at 19-17 at the end of the first quarter. The two teams battled to a 33-33 tie at the half and were deadlocked at 44 heading into the fourth quarter.

“It was a good game, no doubt,” Mackey said. “It’s good for us to play Centre. I think it made us better. We really saw what we had to work on the rest of the year. We did a good job tonight, but we can do better. That’s good competition for our guys to see.”

Riley Norris led Sand Rock with 17 points. Brannon Burt added 13 points. Matt Graham had seven points and Drew Norris finished with six points.

Blanchard scored 23 points and connected on five 3-pointers for the Warriors. He also had six steals. Rucker finished with 13 points, four steals and three assists. Colin Perry and Brett Burgess both had eight points, with Perry also coming away with seven rebounds.

“I don’t fault the kids,” Walker said. “They played hard and the effort was there, and that’s all you can ask. We had a good chance to win that one tonight. It could have went either way down the stretch, but we made some poor decisions. It’s something you’ve got to grow on and get better at.”

Boys Consolation Final

Chattooga, Ga. 70, Glencoe 66 – After being down by nine points heading into the fourth quarter, the Glencoe Yellowjackets battled back to take a one-point lead off a Chance Cassidy jumper with 3:56 to go in the game.

Chattooga then went on a 10-5 run the rest of the way to seal a 70-66 victory in the Cherokee Invitational consolation final on Tuesday.

Spencer London led the charge for Chattooga (5-3) by scoring 29 points, including three 3-pointers. Rashad Ramsey added 17 points and Nathan Schuster came away with 10 points. Senorise Perry finished with six points.

Brock Kirby led Glencoe (6-6) with 14 points. Trey Hill added nine points and Dalton Johnson came away with eight points. Rhett Norman and Jacob Freeman both had seven points. Cassidy, Clint Ponder and Corey Hancock all finished with six points.

Chattooga led 15-14 at the end of the first quarter and held a 31-25 advantage at the half. The Indians led 52-43 heading into the fourth quarter.