There were 16 seconds left. West had a double-digit lead over Cottonwood and the Panthers' leading scorer, Tyrell Corbin, was on the line shooting two free throws. It was the calm after the storm.

West held off a furious Cottonwood rally and a crazy minute or so of basketball at the end of the fourth quarter to beat the Colts 53-41.

"I could breathe a sigh of relief," said Corbin, who finished with a game-leading 20 points. "They made a big comeback; we needed to take the momentum away."

Cottonwood got in a hole early. West's 6-foot-8 center, Gatete Djuma, was a looming presence in the middle, and that threw off the Colts. Instead of looking for shots in and around the key, Cottonwood settled for three-pointers that didn't drop.

Djuma was intimidating inside and the Panthers' guards were just as dangerous with their pressure defense. West forced the Colts into traveling and double-dribble violations they usually don't make. That led to a 29-15 halftime lead for West.

"We were a little intimidated by the tall guy," Cottonwood coach Dave McConnell said. "He blocked the first shot of the game and that just set the tone. It made us nervous to shoot around him."

In the fourth quarter, the Colts found a little rhythm. Cottonwood went on a 14-2 run to cut the lead to 44-41. Arlin Smith played a huge role in that run, hitting two three-pointers to help make it a one-possession game with 1 minute, 44 seconds to play.

But Cottonwood made crucial turnovers. West missed some free throws, but the Colts failed to secure a rebound when Corbin missed one. Another time, a Cottonwood player came down with a rebound and dribbled the ball off his leg.

"I wish we could have doubled our halftime lead. We softened up defensively in the second half and Cottonwood is a good team," West coach Bob Lyman said.