GARLAND — Brook Hill began last week just wanting to make sure it qualified for the playoffs.

The Guard ended it with an overtime win over Tyler All Saints Saturday to finish third overall and enter the postseason full of confidence.

Brook Hill topped All Saints 48-47 in the TAPPS 2-4A Third-Place Game at Dallas Christian School.

Twice it looked like Brook Hill was seconds away from defeat. In both instances, McCray Fletcher delivered clutch 3-pointers. They were his only makes from long distance in the game and the senior picked the perfect time.

Fletcher’s first trey sent the game into overtime and his second 3-pointer was the game-winner.

Brook Hill (16-14) now faces an undetermined opponent on Feb. 20 in the TAPPS 4A bi-district round.

All Saints led 14-11 at the end of the first quarter, but Brook Hill stayed the course, thanks to 10 second-quarter points from Ryan Cox (finished with a team-leading 16) to push the Guard in front at halftime, 26-20.

Brook Hill still led by two entering the fourth quarter before All Saints surged ahead and looked destined to deny the Guard, leading 41-38 with seconds to play. Fletcher answered the bell for his team, delivering a game-tying 3-pointer to send the contest into overtime.

The teams traded baskets until once again All Saints looked to have found the winning formula to lead 47-45 with time running out.

Brook Hill went back to Fletcher and he was true again from distance to give the Guard a 48-47 lead with 20 seconds remaining. All that remained was one more defensive stop to secure victory, which Brook Hill combined to do.

Guard coach Jacob Agnew praised Fletcher’s clutch effort, but added it was a complete team effort.

“The way the boys fought (for this win) was awesome,” Agnew said. “The huge shots by McCray were amazing, but something others might not see in the scorebook is what great defense Alc Kitt played on their (best player).

“Bryant Robinson played huge in the paint, Kitt was just a force on the defensive end and Parker Galbraith played solid offensively knocking down three 3-pointers.”

This victory came just 24 hours after Brook Hill’s was on the wrong end of a one-point heartbreaking loss to eventual tourney champion Dallas Christian in the semifinals.

Dallas Christian scored at the buzzer to deny the Guard 37-36 on Friday. Both teams played lock down defense which placed scoring at a premium.

The Guard rallied from a 13-7 deficit at the end of the first quarter to outscore DC 16-13 in the second quarter and trail 26-23 at halftime.

Brook Hill trimmed it deficit to one point, 33-31, entering the fourth, and held Dallas Christian to just four points in the final frame, but the last-second basket was the diference.

“It was tough because the guys played so hard and lose on the last play of the game at the buzzer is tough,” Agnew said. “I felt like we outplayed Dallas Christian, but just couldn’t quite put the ball in the basket.

“I’m proud of the guys and we’ll use this result as motiviation (going forward).”

A motivated Guard team was on the right end of a game-winning shot Saturday and now await their playoff opponent.

Guard Stats

Third Place Game

Brook Hill    11       15        7       8       7    —   48

All Saints     14       6         11     10      6   —   47

Scoring (48): Ryan Cox 16, Parker Galbraith 11, McCray Fletcher 9, Bryant Robinson 6, Alec Kitt 4, Colton Adams 2.

3-Pointers (5): Galbraith 3, Fletcher 2.

Semifinal

Brook Hill                 7    16    8    5     —   36

Dallas Christian      13   13    7    4    —   37

Scoring (36): Cox 10, Galbraith 8, Fletcher 6, Kitt 4, Reid Hill 3, Adams 3, Robinson 2.

3-Point Goals (4): Adams 1, Hill 1, Galbraith 1, Fletcher 1.