A-F COMES BACK FOR MORE ANOTHER LATE 3-POINTER SENDS THE GREEN DEVILS PAST PLYMOUTH AND INTO THE DIVISION 2 STATE FINAL.(SPORTS)

Byline: NICK ZIZZO nzizzo@madison.com 608-252-6167

An innovative video is circulating the Internet that intertwines Lance Fritz's game-winning, buzzer-beating 3-pointer in last weekend's sectional final with footage from the movie "Hoosiers."

For those in attendance Friday afternoon at the Kohl Center, there is no need to peruse YouTube. You saw a near-carbon copy of another thrilling comeback by Adams-Friendship.

Green Devils senior guard Ben Pease took a pass in the left corner from Tommie Gaston and took out Plymouth with a 3-pointer A-with 8 seconds left to give A-F an improbable 46-45 victory in a WIAA Division 2 state boys basketball semifinal "It's easily one of the best feelings in my life. Ever," said Pease, who had three other big moments Friday.

In the 35-34 sectional-final victory over Spooner, Gaston charged upcourt and found Fritz, who won the game with a 3-pointer from the right corner - the opposite side of Pease's winner.

"Let's face it, they made a play at the end," Plymouth coach Scott Richards said. "We knew what they were going to do and (Pease) hit a shot with a hand in his face."

After the shot, A-F (18-8) had to sweat out the final 6.2 seconds to make its first state final since 1999. Switching to a man-to-man defense for only the second or third time this season, the Green Devils' Mike Chetney got a body on Kevin Feick in the lane. Feick missed the shot, and Gaston tipped away the final rebound opportunity.

"I just couldn't just put it down," Feick said after taking an entry pass from Logan Dellger. "A shot everyone dreams about but everyone can't make it."

Poor play during long stretches of the second and third quarters made it appear A-F's dream had died. After the Green Devils took an 11-7 lead after the first quarter, Plymouth went on an 11-0 run. But A-F scored the final eight points of the half, capped by Pease's 55-foot heave at the buzzer.

"That was just a hoper," said Pease, who chucked it after checking the scoreboard clock.

Added Richards: "Must've been about 200 feet."

Despite the momentum, the Green Devils watched Plymouth (22-4) rattle off a 12-0 spurt early in the second half, grab a 12-point lead and take a 38-28 lead into the fourth.

The situation didn't immediately get better for A-F as Gaston missed a dunk and Bryce Wormet missed an uncontested layup off a steal. But the Panthers had missteps of their own. After making 14 of their first 16 free throws, they missed four straight. During the sequence, Pease had two steals, Fritz scored on a fast break and added three free throws after being fouled on a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 44-43 with 39.3 seconds left.

Dellger made one of two free throws with 20.3 seconds to play. After a timeout, Gaston brought the ball up, got a high screen from Wormet and penetrated to the left before finding Pease for the winner.

"I'm as puzzled as you guys are to how this happened," said A-F coach Steve Klaas, who aided the comeback by going to his trademark 1-3-1 trapping defense in the fourth quarter. "There's a feeling of exuberance but it's gone almost too far. I almost feel something unusual has happened."

PLYMOUTH min fg fga ft fta reb pf a to pt Flood 25 1 6 0 1 5 2 0 1 2 Rooker 26 1 4 2 2 11 0 3 2 4 Comerford 21 2 8 5 7 3 3 2 1 10 Feick

24 5 9 3 5 2 1 1 0 13 Dellger 29 2 11

3 4 6 1 2 3 8 West 4 0 2 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 Cain 9 1 2 0 0 3 1 2 0 2 Horneck 7

1 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 2 Criter 15 1 3 2 2 0 0 1 1 4 Totals 160 14 46 15 21 36

10 11 8 45 ADAMS-FRIENDSHIP min fg fga ft fta reb pf a to pt Fritz 32 4 11 5 5 5 1

0 1 14 Chetney 29 3 4 0 0 6 3 1 2 6 Deane

16 1 1 2 2 1 4 0 0 4 Gaston 29 3 8 0 2 7 2 3 6 6 Pease 31 4 13 1 2 2 4 3 0 13 Wormet 20 1 4 0 0 3 3 0 1 3 Kuchta 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 160 16 41

8 11 25 17 7 10 46 Rebounding totals include team rebounds Plymouth 7 13 18 7 - 45 Adams-Friendship 11 10 7

18 - 46 3-point goals - P 2-17 (Comerford 1-5, Dellger 1-7, West 0-2, Flood 0-3), AF 6-19 (Pease 4-11, Wormet 1-2, Fritz 1-5, Gaston 0-1).

Field goal percentages - P .304, AF .390.

Free throw percentages - P .714, AF .727.

Steals - P 7 (Comerford 3, Flood, Feick, Dellger, Cain), AF 7 (Pease 4, Wormet 2, Chetney).

Blocked shots - P 2 (Rooker 2), AF 6 (Gaston 5, Wormet).

Officials - Jeff Wolf, Gene Wiltgen, Mark Chrisinger.

CAPTION(S):

CRAIG SCHREINER - State Journal

Adams-Friendship's Ben Pease, right, celebrates with Lance Fritz after

Pease's 3-pointer with 8 seconds left gave the Green Devils a 46-45 win.