They wanted a big finish to the Little General Shootout at the Big House, and they got one Wednesday night.
Sophomore Mikal Dawson tipped in a missed 3-pointer by Tavian Dunn-Martin at the final buzzer, giving Huntington a thrilling 59-57 victory over Bridgeport in a battle of unbeatens at the Civic Center, capping the three-day hoops event.
The Highlanders, two-time defending Class AAA champions, came into the game 14-0 and ranked first in the state, while the Indians were 13-0 and ranked No. 2 in AA behind reigning champ Poca.
Huntington fell behind by as many as 12 points late in the third quarter, but a lightning-quick 14-0 run shot the Highlanders into a 45-43 lead early in the fourth quarter, and the teams traded punches the rest of the way.
Dunn-Martin broke out of his shooting slump by draining a 3 with 1:46 left, giving Huntington a 57-54 lead, but Bridgeport's Logan Smith answered that with one of his own to tie it with 1:25 to go.
Huntington then called a pair of timeouts on its final possession, which ended with Dunn-Martin popping another 3 as the clock wound down. His try rattled around and came out, but Dawson came swooping down the right baseline and tipped the ball through as the buzzer sounded.
"I was just supposed to stay down in the short corner and see what I could do,'' Dawsn said. "If they get me the ball, I would just go up strong. Just in the right place, yeah.''
The loss ruined a fine effort by Bridgeport center Nick Greely, who made 10 of 16 shots and scored 28 points with six rebounds..
The 6-foot-6 Greely was unstoppable in his team's last big game, Friday's 67-56 win against AA No. 3 Fairmont Senior, pouring in 35 points.
J.R. Howard led Huntington with 17 points. Dawson and Jalen Pennington each had 13 and Dunn-Martin 10.
The Indians didn't back down from their big-school adversary at the outset, and took a 33-25 halftime lead.
Greely had 17 points at the break on 6 of 10 shooting and Donald Kummer beat the second-quarter buzzer with a hurried shot off a teammate's miss that bounded back to the perimeter. The Indians had 10 assists on 13 made field goals in the opening half and shot 50 percent (13 of 26).
Huntington, which led only at 2-0 in the first half, was 9 of 31 on field goals at that stage, with all-stater and Akron recruit Dunn-Martin going 2 of 8 for seven points.