O'FALLON, Mo. • Fort Zumwalt North guard Jacob Boyd sank four free throws in the last 28.7 seconds as the Panthers held off Francis Howell 56-53 in a boys basketball game Wednesday at Zumwalt North.
"We shoot free throws all the time in practice," Boyd said. "(The key is) just calming down when you're up there to shoot. You shoot the free throw and you put it in."
Zumwalt North needed Boyd's heroics after it let a 12-point lead melt away in thee fourth quarter. The Panthers (11-10) led 49-37 with 4 minutes 10 seconds left before Howell began closing in.
"We just took some shots that weren't really smart," Zumwalt North coach Charles Glotta said. "We're up 12, and we're shooting a 3-pointer. They cut it to 10, and we come right back and shoot a 3 again. We just didn't play as smart as we could have."
Howell (7-16) took advantage of every Zumwalt North misstep down the stretch. Howell's Nic Perkins scored six points inside and Alex Cybularz and Joe Monica connedted on treys during a 16-4 run that tied the game 53-53 with 17.4 seconds to play.
"We have buttons we can push and play really well," Howell coach Mike Storm said. "It's just that we have a real problem with our sense of urgency. It has been the M.O. of our team to create situations for ourselves and then to have to try and battle back from them."
Howell needed a big play to offset Boyd's on-target free-throw shooting down the stretch. But while Zumwalt North was scoring from the line, Howell's offense suddendly couldn't buy a bucket.
The furious comeback took place after Zumwalt North took control early on and expanded its lead until the final stretch.
Zumwalt North led 11-6 after one quarter, 26-19 at halftime and 38-27 at the end of three quarters.
Zumwalt North's Chaz Glotta led all scorers with 18 points. Drew Lowrey added 12 points for the Panthers.
Perkins led a balanced Howell attack with 14 points. Phil Koenig had 12 points and Monica 11.
