The story behind "the shot" as reported by Shelby Dermer in the
Enquirer
La Salle sophomore Devin Taylor and senior
Michael Wergers compete in half-court shot competitions every day after practice.
Taylor never believed those "goofy" sessions would come in handy until Sunday night.
The play is called "UC," and is modeled after a play Bob Huggins' squad ran to beat No. 1 Duke in the Great Alaska Shootout in 1998.
La Salle broke out the play when it trailed St. Xavier, 44-41, with 2.1 seconds left and no timeouts. Needing to go the full length of the court, Ayden Schneider in-bounded the ball to Kevin Crigler, who passed ahead to Taylor, who turned and banked in a 30-footer as time expired to send the game into overtime.
"I just thought that, this is exactly like those practices with Mike (Wergers), so why don't you just be calm and shoot it like you always do when you're playing around with your friends? It's just another shot, but it's a big shot," Taylor said.
La Salle head coach Pat Goedde added: "We do work on that play almost every other day. Devin (Taylor) is just one of those types of dudes. He's so athletic and it was a great shot.
"It's better to be lucky than good sometimes."