FAIRFIELD, Ohio — On Tuesday night, Fairfield’s boys basketball team was trailing Middletown by a point.
It was 56-55 with four seconds on the clock.
Lucas Davids prepared to inbound the ball for Fairfield on their final possession of the night – the full court ahead of him.
There was little doubt who would be taking the last shot of the night.
Junior guard, Kameron Sanders is a top-5 scorer in the Greater Miami Conference this season, and already has a history of game-winning shots.
Last season, Sanders drained a buzzer-beater on the road at Lakota West, to break a tie game and lift Fairfield to victory.
Sure enough, Davids passed the ball to Sanders, who dribbled it up the sideline, past one defender, and across the midcourt stripe.
Middletown had a foul to give, and Fairfield had a timeout to take – but both teams allowed the final possession play-out.
“I had to speed-dribble fast,” recalled Sanders. “I knew I had to get down the court.”
Sanders considered passing to a teammate, but the clock was ticking.
“Dave (Daviawne Crim) was wide open. But there was 1.4 seconds left. So I knew this had to go up, and I had to make it,” said Sanders.
Sanders stopped his feet, and pulled-up from beyond what would be beyond NBA range.
“With the running shot, people would say that’s luck,” said Sanders. “That was going in from the start.”
Sure enough, the ball deflected off the backboard, and fell through the net as the buzzer sounded.
“Everybody rushed me,” said Sanders.
After his buzzer-beater at Lakota West last year, Sanders got knocked-down before his team piled-on in celebration.
“My one objective was not to get knocked down, and stay on my feet,” laughed Sanders.
His prior buzzer-beating experience paid off. Sanders stayed on his feet by leaning against the railing at the front of the bleachers, as his teammates ambushed him.
When asked if he called bank as he shot the ball (a well-known phrase and custom in basketball) Sanders said, "No, I didn't call bank. But the bank was open, so I'll take it."
So what's the secret? If anyone understands the anatomy of a buzzer-beater, Sanders does, by now.
"It's being prepared for the moment; being able to take the shot. Live with the results – the miss or make – and having a coach that trusts you," said Sanders.
His teammate, Crim – who was wide-open on the play – was one of the first players to storm across the court and celebrate with Sanders.
“That just shows what kind of team we have. Everybody rushing over, coach is happy. It doesn’t get better than that.”
With the win, Fairfield improved to 5-5 in GMC play; just two games out of second place in the conference.
Sanders is a junior with several division one college basketball scholarship offers, and plans to study engineering in college.
He's already got a knack for engineering some epic finishes to high school basketball games.
