Southwest wins region title game 79-76 over Dublin in triple overtime thriller

At about 11 p.m. Saturday in Dublin High School’s sweltering gym, Southwest’s Brandon Ashley only thought about one thing when he pulled up and fired a shot from beyond the arc.

There were about 15 seconds left on the clock in triple overtime. After a grueling Region 2-A Division I championship game, the Irish had a 76-75 lead.

Even with all that in his head, Ashley wasn’t overthinking it.

“All I thought was ‘I gotta make this,’” Ashley said, smiling. “Have to make it. It was just a God moment. I thank God for it.”

The 1000-point scorer drained the long-range shot, giving the No. 2 Patriots a lead they would not relinquish. After Dublin lost the ball on their ensuing possession, one last Southwest free throw and a failed long-distance shot by the Irish sealed the 79-76 Patriots win over No. 1 Dublin.

“I’m so excited for these kids, man. We’ve been waiting a long time for this,” Southwest head coach Monquencio Hardnett said. “I’ve been coaching all these guys for years. They’ve worked for this. We came out on top, we finally made it.”

It’s the first region title for Hardnett, who came on as head coach for Southwest in 2021 and built the Patriots into a juggernaut reminiscent of the school’s hoops heyday in the ‘70s and ‘80s. 

Southwest (23-2) spent much of the year in multiple Top 10 rankings for the A-Division I classification but finished second in the region after the Irish defeated them 57-48 earlier in the year, making the title game a highly anticipated matchup.

Now, with the region trophy finally in hand, Southwest seems poised for a top-five seed in the state playoffs after navigating a bloodthirsty, 10-team region.

“This just gives us more motivation. We did this, we can do anything. We worked years for it,” junior point guard C.J. Howard said. “Now we have one more (goal)… now we have to take it all the way.”

Howard led the Patriots with 25 points, even after an ankle injury sidelined him for the final minute of regulation and some of overtime. The junior gutted it out and kept things churning on crucial possessions in the second and third overtimes.

“That was huge for us because he’s the cog that keeps it all moving,” Hardnett said of Howard. “It was big for him to come back because he’s important for us.”

Chase Dupree added 24 points of his own, while Ashley had 18. Ashley was nearly the hero in the second overtime after feeding a brilliant pass to Montese Green for one layup in the final minute, then hitting a clutch shot of his own with 30 seconds left. 

Both those plays gave Southwest the lead, but Dublin answered the bell each time to send it to a third extra period. Irish senior AJ Johnson was a thorn in the Patriots’ side all night, leading the floor with 31 points and seemingly hitting every clutch shot for his squad.

“Dublin has a great team, man, so much credit to them,” Hardnett said. “This does a lot for us for the playoffs, a triple overtime (game) against a team like them, even if we’re tired. Now it’s just five more, and we’re in that championship.”

Hardnett said the victory cemented his faith in the team, a group he’s watched grow in leaps and bounds across his four years as head coach.

It’s safe to say his players had faith after the win, too.

“It gives us a Mamba mentality,” Howard said.

He and Ashley looked at each other and laughed.

“Like Kobe,” Ashley said. “That’s the mindset. C’mon.”

A duel for the ages

Neither team could get a major advantage in the first half. Southwest was stronger out of the gate and started with a quick with a 7-2 run, but Dublin got right back into it as the first quarter ran on and made it 12-11 going into the second.

Dupree, normally a key leader for Southwest, was a focal point for Dublin’s defense. The strategy worked as Dupree turned the ball over a handful of times to give the Irish easy points in transition. Howard made up for it with some sharp shooting, though — the point guard had 14 points in the first half — and it looked like Southwest would take a lead into the break when they were up 24-17 with two minutes left.

But Dublin managed to sink a pair of shots from beyond the arc and hit some free throws to turn it around. An Irish layup with 30 seconds left in the half gave Dublin a 25-24 lead they took into the locker room.

The second half provided much of the same back-and-forth, as both sides traded blows throughout the third quarter. Dupree came alive, finally hacking his way through the defense for some layups. Johnson continued to dominate for Dublin, with Tristian Bell helping him out on several key drives to the hoop.

On a few occasions it looked like Dublin had Southwest on the ropes momentum-wise. The end of the third quarter felt key, as Johnson drilled a 3-pointer from way downtown at the buzzer to cut the Patriots’ lead to one before the fourth quarter.

A similar moment arrived near the end of regulation when Dublin’s Bell and Javion Harris each hit zany layups that gave the Irish a two-possession lead in the final two minutes. Even as the home crowd clamored, Southwest stayed poised and got a clutch layup before Howard snagged a rebound at the other end — hurting his ankle in the process — to set up the game-tying score.

The game got more physical in the fourth quarter, with Irish players hitting the deck multiple times on offense and defense as Dublin fans shouted for fouls. The refs also stopped play multiple times late for several wet spots on the court, adding more tension to the affair.

The physicality and nerves continued into overtime, which came after the Irish failed to knock down their buzzer-beater after holding the ball for the last 20 seconds of regulation.

The first overtime was a scoring fest as the teams traded blows, but Johnson’s game-tying bucket with about 10 seconds left highlighted the period before Dublin got a massive block on Southwest’s attempted game-winning layup.

The second overtime was unsurprisingly more of the same, but it looked like the Patriots might be in trouble when they failed to take the lead and gave the Irish possession in a 70-70 game with four seconds remaining. Dublin shockingly air-balled its last shot, though, and the rest was history once triple overtime arrived.

Southwest earned the No. 1 seed in the GHSA state playoffs with the win and will face No. 32 Bacon County in the first round Wednesday. Dublin got the No. 7 seed and will face No. 26 Heard County.