Anybody watching the boys' middle school tournament final Monday, who had watched Hardin Park's boys' basketball team play at any time all season, had a feeling Aaron Dobbins would take the final shot of the Eagles' game against Blowing Rock.

Dobbins, a 6-foot-2 center drove to the basket didn't disappoint them. Dobbins drained a short jump shot with 3.2 seconds left in the game to lift Hardin Park to a 31-29 victory in front of a good crowd at Lentz-Eggers Gym. Hardin Park, which also won the regular-season title, finished the season with a 16-1 record.

“He's a leader on the court,” Hardin Park coach Brittany Bolick said. “I knew at the last minute, everyone wanted him to take the shot. It was all like, ‘You know what you have to do.'”

Dobbins played a major role in both championships. He scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against Blowing Rock, which finished second during the regular season and ended its season with a 14-3 mark.

Dobbins scored eight points in the fourth quarter, including the game-winner. Hardin Park got the ball back with 47 seconds left in the game after Blowing Rock's Willis Ellis scored a basket to tie the game at 29-29.

Hardin Park worked the clock down to 38.4 seconds before calling a time out. The Eagles passed the ball around somewhat, but the ball eventually ended up in Dobbins' hands.

He drove to his left and was cut off from the basket by four Blowing Rock defenders. Dobbins nailed his short jump shot, and then during a celebration with his teammates, the clock went to 0.0.

“He made a tough shot,” Blowing Rock coach Chris Wallace said. “It wasn't anything easy that he shot. I thought we had a four-point lead with about a minute and a half left and I thought we had the momentum. They got him the ball and he took it to the basket.”

However, Blowing Rock called timeout with 3.2 seconds left during Hardin Park's celebration. Hardin Park, which had just two fouls in the second half, used a third with 1.8 seconds to keep the Rockets from moving the ball up the court quickly.

Finally, after another Blowing Rock timeout, Caleb Bryson's desperation 3-point shot fell well short of the goal.

Bryson led the Rockets with 10 points. Zach Valet and Levi Wilcox, assigned with the tough task of guarding Dobbins, added six points. Evan Kearse added a basket in the second half.

Wilcox, who scored 20 points in a semifinal victory over Green Valley on Feb. 2, pulled down five rebounds against Hardin Park.

“Wilcox is a great player,” Bolick said. “They have a lot of good guys on their team. I try not to focus on what players on the other teams do, but you also have to shut players down. I thought he had a great game tonight.”

“I told my guys they have nothing to hang their head over,” Wallace said. “Hardin Park made just one more play than us basically.”

Ellis scored five, including a 24-foot 3-point basket made just before the halftime buzzer to pull the Rockets to 11-9.

Harrison Cobb scored nine points for Hardin Park. Andrew Yoblinski and Evan Suggs each scored two points.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half. Hardin Park claimed a 5-2 first quarter lead, and Blowing Rock trailed 7-2 before Valet scored the Rockets' first basket with 3:38 left in the second quarter.

“It was like we had jet lag or something. Maybe it was the plane ride over and we weren't quite ready,” Wallace joked. “At least they didn't jump out on us. Our defense was kind of there. Our offense wasn't. They didn't take it too far away from us.”

Bolick credited both team's defenses for keeping the score down early.

“It was all about defense,” Bolick said. “Both teams played excellent defense and came out to really prove themselves. You had to work for every point scored.”

Dobbins scored six of Hardin Park's eight points in the third quarter, but was answered by four points from Wilcox, four from Valet and four from Bryson to give the Rockets a 21-19 lead going into the fourth.

 

Hardin Park 31, Blowing Rock 29

Blowing Rock (14-3)

Bryson 4 2-3 10, Ellis 2 0-0 5, Z. Valet 2 2-2 6, Wilcox 2 2-6 6, Kearse 1 0-0- 2, Templeton 0 0-0 0, Foster 0 0-0 0, Kapral 0 0-0 0, McGuire 0 0-0 0, C. Valet 0 0-0 0, Clough 0 0-0 0, Mailing 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 6-11 29.

Hardin Park (16-1)

Cobb 3 3-4 9, Yoblinski 1 0-0 2, Suggs 1 0-0 2, Dobbins 9 0-0 19, Zimmerman 0 0-0 0, Sauls 0 0-0 0, Davidson 0 0-0 0, Burchell 0 0-0 0, Byakweli 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 3-4 31.

Blowing Rock 2 7 11 8 — 29

Hardin Park     5 6 8 12 — 31

3-point goals—Blowing Rock 1 (Ellis); Hardin Park, none. Rebounds—Blowing Rock 14 (Wilcox 5), Hardin Park 26 (Dobbins 10). Turnovers—Blowing Rock 6, Hardin Park 13. Total fouls—Blowing Rock, Hardin Park 6. Fouled out—None. Technical fouls—None.