Dobbins tops West Philadelphia in OT in playoffs

The incredible shot was followed by the uncommon response.

How many times have you seen it, then heard it? A guy hits a miracle shot, even one as hairy as they come, and then says calmly, cooly, "I knew it was going."

And then there's Basir Fulmore, a 6-2, 190-pound senior swingman for Murrell Dobbins Tech . . .

"I didn't know if it was gonna go in," he said. "Even when it was close to the basket, I didn't know."

It did. And it was the signature moment in a game that showed what Public League basketball used to be, before the crazy expansion - the league has doubled in size in just 8 years! - and all the meaningless games, featuring 5-10 power forwards with ridiculous dreams of making the NBA, that might as well take place during a gym class.

Every so often Thursday, Dobbins' classic gym stirred thoughts of Philadelphia International Airport. As in, the roar of the crowd was so loud, you would have sworn jet planes were moments away from takeoff.

And right after Fulmore, a lefty, beat the regulation buzzer with a perfect-swish heave from one step inside halfcourt, creating a 62-62 tie in a first-round playoff, vs. West Philadelphia, that was also a Class AA quarterfinal, you could have sworn a tsunami was surging toward Fulmore and every other Mustang, and that each and every guy would soon be hospital bound.

Roughly 150 students, instantaneously, pretty much as one, stormed across the court. Somehow, the north wall did not collapse. Somehow, everyone did not wind up on Lehigh Avenue.

What a scene!

The overtime session? Nothing spectacular. Dobbins won, 77-70, mostly because it scored the first five points and then did better at the foul line (barely).

Years from now, the talk will still focus on Fulmore's miracle shot, and the fact Dobbins stormed back from a 12-point deficit in the final 3 1/2 minutes.

(Unfortunately, it had some undeserved help. A spectacular follow-dunk by star center Jerrell Wright, a La Salle signee, made it 55-55 with 1:13 left . . . Except on the scoreboard. The board showed 57-55. Long after the game, current and former Dobbins administrators said they also noticed the snafu.)

With 0:05 left in regulation, Fred Jones made the second of two free throws to draw Dobbins within 60-59. West's Larry Richardson, also a star quarterback, hit both halves of his double-bonus at 0:03.

Fulmore, just 3-for-16 beforehand and 0-for-5 in the fourth quarter, fired toward the 22nd Street basket from a shade to the Lehigh side of the halfcourt circle.

"I was ticking off the time in my head," he said. "I knew I only had one-two dribbles. Before the play, I was telling myself, 'I gotta hit this shot.' "

And after?

"Big players hit big shots," he said, smiling. "I do this all the time. Nah, not from that far away. But if your team needs a big shot, you gotta do it for them."

He added, "Though I knew the shot only tied the game, I thought maybe I had it wrong [based on the reaction]. Dobbins fans haven't had this kind of fun too often in recent years. Guess that's why they went so crazy."

At halftime, Fulmore was made to listen to a rather stern talk from an assistant coach.

"He kept sayin', 'You wanna go home?!' " Fulmore said. "He said it was time to step up and make plays. I almost cried at halftime [though the deficit was only 27-22]. I was thinking for the last week and a half [about how his season/career could soon be ending]. I didn't like that feeling.

"I was mad about being off. I was rushing my shot. And there was a lot of banging going on [during drives]. Hard to get to the bucket."

Fulmore finished with 17 points, five rebounds, two assists and seven steals. He had all of his boards, both dishes and three of his thefts over the final 12 minutes.

"It's not just about scoring," he pointed out.

With his future coach, John Giannini, among the spectators, Wright totaled 26 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocks. Khalil Curtis, who sat throughout the second quarter with a dinged knee, managed 12 points. Jones, Marquell Tate and Daquan "Day-Day" Brown all had big defensive moments during the late-regulation swooshback.

Terrell "Sleepy" Daye, a lefty swingman with tricky moves enhanced by strength, poured in 32 points for West. Richardson and Joseph White halved 20. The Speedboys, however, long will remember missing 15 free throws over the final 12 minutes.

When Fulmore was asked what feeling hit him immediately after his miracle shot, he quickly answered, "Relief."

He also said, "I knew it didn't win the game, but I knew it was a momentum changer."

And then, immediately, a jet plane was taking off in his ear.