CENTRE – Cherokee County boys basketball coach Shane Reid recently read a statistic that said 80 to 90 percent of game-winning shots aren’t the original ones teams draw up in the huddle. They come on tip-ins.

Reid won’t argue with that, especially after what Warrior senior guard Tyler Stubbs did Friday night at home against Fort Payne.

With the game tied at 69 and with 15.9 seconds remaining in the game, Reid called a time out to draw up what he hoped would be the game-winning play.

He knew the Wildcats would most certainly key on Coty Blanchard, so he wanted one of his other guys to get open and make the shot.

The Warriors found their open man in sophomore guard Brett Burgess, but his layup with just over five seconds remaining was no good.

However, Stubbs was on the spot of Burgess’ miss. He grabbed the rebound and put it back with exactly five seconds left on the clock to give the Warriors a 71-69 win.

“We drew up a play, and we knew they were going to key on Coty,” Stubbs said. “We were trying to penetrate and kick it out to somebody else, but we knew we were going to have to crash the boards. It just so happened they opened up the middle of the lane. We missed a layup, but we knew we had to crash anyway, and I just happened to be there.”

The Wildcats had one last opportunity, but a shot from mid-court sailed wide of the mark as the buzzer sounded, giving the Warriors their fourth win in the past five games.

Ironically, the Warriors’ last loss came a week ago at Fort Payne, 77-76.

“It’s about time we won one of those,” Reid said. “It didn’t end up the way we thought it would. Brett was wide open down there, and even though he missed the layup, I told him that was smart because it ate more time up on the clock before we scored. It just worked out.”

Stubbs was just one of the catalysts of the Warriors’ rally. Cherokee County (14-10) was down 55-51 at the end of the third quarter, but battled its way back to tie the game late.

Blanchard’s layup with 56.7 seconds left tied the game at 69. After a pair of possessions yielded no points for either team, Fort Payne had the ball with 39.8 seconds left after the Warriors’ Keon Rucker missed a free throw.

The Wildcats’ Boo Smith launched a 3-pointer with 15.9 seconds left, but it rimmed out. Blanchard came away with the ball, but it was knocked out of bounds by the Wildcats.

The Warriors maintained possession, which allowed them to call a time out to set up the game-winning play.

Blanchard, who scored his 1,000th career point on Thursday at Piedmont, recalled Stubbs taking charge in the huddle.

“When we were in the timeout, he said ‘Whoever misses, I’m getting the rebound,’” Blanchard said. “He went up and got the rebound. He called it. He stepped up his game 100 percent in the second half.”

Stubbs finished with 17 points, including 14 in the second half.

“In the second half, something clicked and I just started feeling it,” Stubbs said. “I hit some open shots. I started going to the goal more and was knocking down some layups. I was just trying to do what I could do.”

Blanchard led the Warriors with 27 points, including four 3-pointers. Rucker added 11 points.

The win by the Warriors spoiled a 35-point outburst by the Wildcats’ Blake Smith. Smith had 23 points at the break and also connected on four 3-pointers in the game.

Cody Farmer and Cody O’Neal both had 10 points for Fort Payne (12-15).

Reid said he’s proud of the way the Warriors have been coming through lately, and he’s hoping that will carry on into next week’s area tournament.

“We still have little stretches where we just don’t play well, but we’re a week away from the area tournament, and we’re playing better now than we have all year,” he said. “That’s what every basketball team in the state of Alabama wants to do. Our last three or four games have been our best stretch of games all year.”