MILTON, Mass. — The play that led to Reece Ayala’s incredible buzzer-beater wasn’t even initially meant for him.
Before the Milton Academy guard made one of the signature shots of the start of the NEPSAC season – a half-court shot to beat Choate on Dec. 15 at the Scholar Roundball Classic – head coach Lamar Reddicks initially drew up a play for Ryan McLaughlin. With the game tied at 62 with 3.0 seconds left, the sophomore guard was supposed to come from the weak side and curl for a 3-pointer.
But the shot was blocked out of bounds. There were 1.4 seconds left on the clock, but Milton had no timeouts. Senior forward Jack Watson, who was inbounding the ball, said he was told to run the same play, which included multiple secondary options. The initial play to McLaughlin was covered by Choate’s defense, and another option included junior guard Devan Williams on a back cut for a lob, but executing that was unlikely.
Watson didn’t panic despite the brief scramble. He knew the game was tied, which relieved some pressure.
“We were just looking for the best shot we could possibly get,” Watson said. “Worse comes to worst, we go into overtime.”
