Whitney Young (Ill.) edges Prestonwood (Texas) at buzzer

Whitney Young (Ill.) senior Gabriel Snider hadn’t scored a point in the tournament, much less the game, when he received the ball under his own defensive basket with his team down by a point and less than 6 seconds to play.

He raced down the court against constant defensive pressure, dribbled to the left side of the top of the key and released a shot with his momentum still taking him to the left and forward. It banked in off the backboard for the game-winning 3-pointer, lifting the Dolphins to a 46-44 win over Prestonwood Christian (Texas) and into Friday’s semifinals.

“I’m just glad those three points came at that time in the game,” Snider said. “It’s tough playing a lot of the game and not scoring that many points when the team can use those points, but those three points came at a good time.”

Snider, who is headed to Illinois-Chicago next season, was 0-for-3 in the Dolphins’ Beach Ball opener and 0-for-1 Thursday night at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center before the game-winner.

“I got it to halfcourt and noticed there was maybe one and a half seconds left, and I knew I had to get the shot up and it went in,” Snider said. “I didn’t call [the bank], but I’ll take it.”

Just 6 second prior to that on the game clock, Prestonwood junior guard Marquan Botley dribbled into the lane and hit a floater that was the potential game-winner.

“I knew we still had 6 seconds to go on the clock, so I made a big shot but I knew we still had to get a stop,” Botley said. “Our plan was to get the ball inside right away. We got it inside and they collapsed, my big man kicked it out and I saw an opening and just hit the open shot.”

The plan for Whitney Young was for Paul White to accept the inbounds pass and take it to halfcourt and call a timeout. But White quickly gave the ball back to Snider, who had inbounded it.

“As usual the kids didn’t do what we asked,” Whitney Young coach Tyrone Slaughter said. “. . . We told him if you take the shot you make it, and I’m happy. It’s one of the times I’m happy they ran through the red light. . . . God smiled on us today.”

Whitney Young handled Prestonwood’s twin 6-9 powers fairly well in a physical contest featuring more than half the game’s points in the paint. Junior Julius Randle finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and two assists, while Kansas commitment Zach Peters was held to 8 points, three rebounds and a pair of steals.

Dolphins’ 6-11 center Jahlil Okafor had 10 points and 12 rebounds, while 6-3 senior Jordan Smith contributed 14 points, including 11 consecutive team points on a jumper, three inside baskets and three free throws in the second half to give Whitney Young a 39-31 lead with 4 minutes remaining.

From that point Prestonwood surged and Whitney Young nearly self-destructed against pressure defense during an 8-0 run that tied the game at 39 with 1:30 to play.

In the span of 1:40, Whitney Young missed the front end of a one-and-one at the foul line and turned the ball over three times to contribute to the 8-0 run, which featured a put-back by Mickey Mitchell, pair of free throws by Randle and consecutive layups by Austin Rettig.

A dunk by Okafor off a loose ball, three-point play by Randle off an offensive rebound, and dunk on a weak-side rebound by Whitney Young’s Nate Brooks – all in the final 1:10 – set up the flurry in the final 7 seconds.

Whitney Young is 5-2, a record that includes a five-point loss to Simeon (Chicago), ESPN’s No. 1 team in the country. Prestonwood (11-1), avenged its only loss of the year to Grace Prep (Texas) and won last week’s City of Palms Classic in Florida, defeating Beach Ball favorite Bishop Gorman along the way.

“They’re as good a basketball team as we’ve played,” Slaughter said. “We played the No. 1 team, Simeon, and they’re probably better than Simeon just because of their physicality. That’s the most physical team we’ve played.”

The Dolphins are starting three sophomores because heavily recruited 6-9 junior Thomas Hamilton and 6-8 senior Colorado State signee Jermaine Morgan are out with leg injuries.

“Our guys wanted to compete today,” Slaughter said. “We’re short some players and all that, but it doesn’t matter. The game is played on 94 feet and the rims are 10 feet high. It really comes down to what you want to do, and our kids decided they wanted to win and they gave a winning effort out there.”

•  WHITNEY YOUNG (46) – Miles Reynolds 6, Gabriel Snider 3, Nate Brooks 5, Jahlil Okafor 10, Paul White 6, Scott Kingsley 2, Jordan Smith 14

•  PRESTONWOOD CHRISTIAN (44) – Mickey Mitchell 8, Marquan Botley 2, Austin Rettig 12, Zach Peters 8, Julius Randle 14

• 3-point goals: Whitney Young 2 (Reynolds 1, Snider 1), Prestonwood Christian 3 (Mitchell 1, Rettig 1, Randle 1). Team fouls: Whitney Young 19, Prestonwood Christian 15. Fouled out: Smith (Whitney Young). Technical fouls: None.

• Records: Whitney Young 5-2, Prestonwood Christian 11-1