Damien Jefferson knew the pass was coming.
Martin Schiele had veered right, trying to set up his team for the final shot, when he reversed the ball to Tremell Murphy.
Jefferson snuck in front of Murphy, deflecting the basketball before taking off on a full sprint with time running out. Jefferson made a running basket giving East Chicago Central a 66-64 victory Saturday at the Hammond Civic Center.
It was stunning ending to a game that started slow but finished with a flurry. Jermaine Couisnard led East Chicago with a game-high 28 points and Jefferson scored 23.
Griffith had clawed back by erasing a 15-point deficit in the second half.
Jefferson, a 6-foot-5 senior guard who will play for New Mexico, said he was waiting to pounce.
“I saw it,” he said. “I was ready to pick it off.”
Intercepting the pass was one part of the play. Having the presence to take three giant steps and then get the ball off before the buzzer sounded was what made the shot special.
Jefferson had tied the game at 64 with 11 seconds left on a layup.
Jefferson took off outside the 3-point line but didn’t release the ball until he was near the free-throw line. It was ruled a two-point basket.
East Chicago Central coach Pete Trgovich was still trying to process it after the game.
“It was amazing,” he said. “Damien Jefferson is my statistical leader in every category, but he is my highest IQ player. The awareness to get the ball up in time was just amazing. It was a great play by a great player.”
The ending wasn’t without controversy.
Initially, one of the officials ruled Jefferson hadn’t shot before the buzzer sounded.
Griffith coach Gary Hayes had gathered his players for overtime after he saw an official wave off the shot.
Then the bad news for Griffith: After huddling, officials ruled the shot was good.
Hayes was disappointed the call was changed.
“I’m not complaining,” he said.”We lost because of other things. Just don’t let the officials determine the outcome of a game.”
After a sluggish first half, the game picked up in the third quarter.
Jefferson scored the first seven points of the third quarter, giving ECC (10-4) a five-point lead.
That lead ballooned to 15 early in the fourth quarter after a basket by Couisnard.
Griffith followed with an 18-1 run. It went ahead on a free throw by Kelston Haden with 1:30 left.
Tremell Murphy led Griffith with 17 points, two more than Schiele and Anthony Murphy.
Hayes said his team was disappointed.
The Panthers (14-1) were ranked No.1 in Class 3A by the Associated Press. They will likely drop.
“It’ll be interesting to see how we regroup,” Hayes said. “We wanted to be No.1. We’ll lose that. We get that. It was just a tough loss.”
For Jefferson, who hurt his shoulder but missed just a few minutes, the victory was big.
“They were the No.1 team in the Region,” he said. “We really wanted this one.”
Twitter: @MikeHuttonPT