Logan Shiels goes up for game-winning shot Thursday against the Bobcats. Photo by Kristen Smith.

By DOUG DONNELLY

OTTAWA LAKE – Logan Shiels buried a 10-foot jumper at the buzzer to lift Britton Deerfield to a key 68-66 win over Whiteford in a Tri-County Conference thriller.

BD led by as many as nine points twice in the fourth quarter, but the Bobcats tied the game 66-66 with 3.5 seconds left on a shot by Josh Hill.

After a timeout, BD tried throwing the ball inbounds from the backcourt, but the Bobcats tipped it out-of-bounds, which put the ball about even with the three-point line with 2.9 seconds left.

“We got the look we wanted,” Shiels said. “I knew I had either Colin (Johnson) in the corner or Brayden (Shiels) down low. Those were my two options. I didn’t have too much time, but once I got him on my back, I just went up with it.”

The buzzer sounded as the shot fell, giving BD the win and helped the Patriots improve to 11-1 on the season and 4-1 in the TCC.

Patriot coach Darren Shiels said the play worked as planned.

“We ran it a lot in the game, but we ran it for a different option,” he said of the play designed in the huddle. “Whiteford scouted it well. They were switching on it. We were hoping they would switch it one more time. They had a little confusion, which allowed Logan to flash to the ball on the inbounds play, which is what we were hoping for.”

Shiels finished with 19 points for BD. Colin Johnson scored 17 while Ryan Good scored 10 and Brayden Shiels nine. Owen Plum and Keegan Bush combined for three important 3-pointers for BD.

The Bobcats got 18 points from Evan Parker, 16 from Hill, 12 from Hunter DeBarr and 11 from Lincoln Joerin, but were plagued by foul trouble all game long. BD shot 25 free throws compared to eight for the Bobcats.

Whiteford head coach Nick Abalos said the Patriots rebounding gave them an advantage.

“It was a tough loss,” he said. “I felt we played pretty good offense. They got a lot of offensive rebounds and that was a big factor in the game.”

Whiteford fell to 8-5 overall and 3-2 in the TCC.

BRITTON DEERFIELD 23 13 13 19 – 68

WHITEFORD 21 13 13 20 – 66

BD: Good 3(2) 2-4 10, L. Shiels 6(1) 6-9 19, Colin Johnson 7 3-5 17, B. Shiels 4 1-2 9, Plum 1(1) 4-5 7, Bush 2(2) 0-0 6. Totals 23(6) 16-25 68.

WHITEFORD: L. Joerin 3(1) 4-4 11, Hill 6(4) 0-0 16, Parker 7(4) 0-0 18, DeBarr 6 0-0 12, Masserant 2 1-2 5, Stevens 1 0-0 2, Ruddy 1 0-2 2. Totals 26(9) 5-8 66.