‘You couldn’t have drawn up a better ending.’ Mtn View wins Stinky Sneaker on buzzer-beater
Brevin Binder didn’t make a huge impact on the stat sheet Tuesday night. But neither Mountain View nor Meridian will forget his impact on the floor anytime soon.
The Mavericks’ senior wing tipped in a buzzer-beating shot in the final second of the annual Stinky Sneaker rivalry game, securing the Mountain View boys basketball team a 53-51 victory at No. 4-ranked Meridian in front of a packed gym of 3,000 fans.
Mountain View point guard Owen McBride inbounded the ball under the Warriors’ hoop with 0.6 seconds left. Knowing they didn’t have time to catch and shoot, the Mavericks drew up a prayer for their best leaper and crossed their fingers.
Binder jumped over Meridian’s T.J. Sanor and fired a two-handed push toward the basket. It looked more like a volleyball set than a basketball shot. But the ball rattled through the rim as the buzzer rang, and Mountain View stormed the court with the dramatic victory.
“I can’t lie. That was one of my best shots ever,” Binder said. “It’s one of my dreams to hit a game-winner, especially (in the) Stinky Sneaker.
“I don’t know. I don’t even know what to say right now.”
The buzzer-beater capped a wild game worthy of the atmosphere. Binder didn’t score any of his seven points until the fourth quarter. But he tied the game at 45 with a 5-foot bank shot, then gave the Mavericks a 49-48 lead on his fastbreak layup with 1:53 left.
Mountain View stretched that lead to three points in the final 30 seconds. But Meridian threatened to send the game to overtime when Sanor drained a corner 3-pointer with 7 seconds left, slipping Binder on a screen for the open look.
The Mavericks declined to call a timeout, allowing McBride to bring the ball up the floor for a last shot. Duncan Pearce swatted McBride’s runner, but McBride somehow corralled the loose ball at the baseline and managed to call a timeout with 0.6 seconds left on the clock.
McBride said Mountain View had one plan — throw the ball up for Binder and see what he could do.
“Brevin’s got the craziest ups probably in the state,” McBride said. “We knew he could get up above anybody that was gonna jump with him.”
Mountain View coach Jon Nettleton said Binder started the play a bit early, leaving him farther away from the hoop than planned. But whether it was 3 feet, 5 feet or 8 feet, no one could stop Binder from getting to that jump ball.
“You couldn’t have drawn up a better ending, obviously for us,” Nettleton said. “… It’s the cherry on top. Brev is going to remember that for the rest of his life. I’m going to remember that for the rest of my life.”
Mountain View relied on its 3-point shooting early, scoring 21 of its 29 first-half points behind the arc to trail by one. The Mavericks cooled off and finished 9-for-22 behind the 3-point line. But Braden Sherrill led the charge, scoring 18 points and adding six rebounds while shooting 4-for-7 from downtown.
McBride added 11 points and three assists, and McKoy Thompson chipped in eight points as Mountain View won both the Stinky Sneaker game and spirit contest for the second straight year.
The trophy — a beat-up, Chuck Taylor sneaker — goes to the winner of a spirit competition started by former Mountain View vice principal Randy Fout in 2005. The spirit competition packs the gym and provides one of the most electric environments of the season. But the rivalry has featured plenty of dramatic finishes on the court, too.
Ryan Baker led Meridian with 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting. Tristan Fortin added eight points and five rebounds, and Pearce finished with seven points.
This story was originally published January 16, 2024 at 11:37 PM.
