2023 1A State Basketball Championship: Marked Tree boys fall to County Line after go-ahead bucket

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (KAIT) - Donny Childs hit the game-tying layup with under 15 seconds to play, but Cooper Watson countered on the other end, hitting the go-ahead shot with two seconds left to give County Line the 46-44 win over Marked Tree in the 1A State Championship game at Bank OZK Arena Friday night.

County Line (45-0) hit the shot after storming back from down 11 points in the third quarter. The Indians went on a 22-8 run to gain the three-point lead with under four minutes to play in the game.

Marked Tree (29-4) regained the lead after back-to-back steals and buckets from Childs and Ladarrius Brown. Both players scored in double figures, with Brown leading the way with 11 points and Childs adding 10. Jonah Walker had 8 points, 14 rebounds and 6 blocks.

Childs hit a contested shot at the rim to tie the game with 15 seconds left, but Watson, the Finals MVP after his 14-point day, had the final bucket with two seconds to go.

After the shot went through, Marked Tree head coach Barbara Wilburn wanted to call timeout but it was not granted.

“There was not an explanation,” Wilburn said. “I don’t know how you call timeout, you’ve got three people in your face calling timeout and we didn’t get a timeout, [the official] said he didn’t see it.”

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