Jacksonville, Fla. – From the hero to the goat and back to the hero again to send The Villages High School boys basketball team to the state championship.

It was all in a night's work – well, five heart-stopping seconds of it – for Ethan Bevis.

The senior co-captain pushed past a missed pair of free throws late in the waning moments of Monday's Class 3A state semifinals, before putting through the game winner just before the final horn to lift the Buffalo to a 54-52 victory over Andrew Jackson at UNF Arena in Jacksonville.

The go-ahead shot was the culmination of several heroic efforts down the stretch for VHS (24-7), who now play the nation's No. 2 team, Calvary Christian Academy (23-1), in the state title game at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Jacksonville.

"It doesn't matter who we're playing, we won't back down from anybody," Bevis said after the Buffalo punched their ticket to their third state championship game in the last four years. "We don't care what the score is or how much time is left, we take the fight to everybody we're up against. That's just what Buffalo Basketball is."

Bevis' putback before the buzzer followed a trio of impressive plays by Miles Simpson and a gritty effort from Jomar Bernard, with the latter securing an initial offensive rebound following Bevis' pair of free-throw misses with 5.8 seconds left. Bernard's turnaround floater hit the side of the backboard, as Bevis then crashed the glass and tipped home the game winner as time expired.

That chaotic sequence came after the best series of plays this season from Simpson, who dished a nifty assist on a lay-in by Bernard with 3:16 remaining to tie the game at 50-50. Simpson then rocked the rafters with a thunderous go-ahead dunk with 2:32 to play, before erasing what would've been a go-ahead shot by Andrew Jackson's Corenzes Dennard with :29 seconds left.

"These guys are resilient, they're relentless and they're together ... they're the whole thing that we talk about all year long," VHS head coach Colt McDowell said. "There was so much adversity and I'm just so proud of our guys. Everybody stepped up when their number was called and now we've got one more. One more (game) and that's all that matters."

The Villages had to earn its right to play one more winner-take-all contest by way of a thrilling state semifinal with the Tigers (28-2), as the two teams exchanged the lead five times and tied the score on nine other occasions throughout the night.

VHS opened with a strong shooting start, knocking down three 3-pointers in the first quarter, but ultimately found itself trailing 20-18 after one period of play.

A three-pointer by Jadence Kennedy off the bench with 4:06 in the first half gave the Buffalo their first lead since the midway part of the opening period, aided by a switch to a zone defense that spelled the Tigers to start just 2-of-11 shooting from the floor in the quarter.

The two squads exchanged the lead four times in the latter half of the second quarter, with the final push ahead on the scoreboard coming on Justin Jackson's free throw with 9.3 seconds remaining to give Andrew Jackson a 31-30 lead at the break.

The Tigers jumped out to their largest lead of the night at 41-34 with three minutes left in the third quarter, as the Buffalo missed their first five shots from the floor in the second half. The Tigers also pushed the tempo during that stretch, beating VHS down the floor on multiple occasions to find easy baskets in transition.

A 7-1 run late in the third helped pull VHS back within 45-43 at the end of the period, despite three starters – Jared Thompson, Herly Brutus and Aaron Britt, Jr. – each facing foul trouble with four fouls apiece. Brutus fouled out with 4:03 left and The Villages trailing 50-47, before the heroics began to spark a 5-0 run to claw the Buffalo back within 52-52.

It was Simpson who chewed up the minutes in Brutus' absence, ensuring the senior leader and LSU signee didn't see his career end sitting helplessly on the bench. He finished with just three points, but pulled down four rebounds and contributed the timely block and assist late.

"I was just staying focused and ready for when I was needed," Simpson said. "I pride myself on coming through for my brothers. I told Herly (Brutus) as soon as he fouled out that I had his back. I just live for those moments and ever since I've been little, I feel like I've been made for the big moments on the court." 

That much proved true for Bevis, too, despite the 70% free-throw shooter missing two at the line late following a game-tying shot by Andrew Jackson's King Sanders with 1:35 left. The Air Force signee Bevis battled through the adversity to soar into the paint on the final putback attempt of the night, reversing the course of potential fate and sending the Buffalo to their third state championship game in program history.

"I missed both of those shots, unfortunately, but a huge play by Jomar (Bernard) to get the rebound and get another shot up," Bevis said. "As soon as he did, I knew I had to try to go give us another chance to win. I couldn't just let it end like that."

Britt led the Buffalo with 17 points and Bevis finished with 16, while Bernard had 10 points and eight rebounds in the win.



Cody Hills can be reached for questions or comment via email at cody.hills@tvcs.org.