Marcus Paige is a supremely confident athlete, but even Paige had his doubts Tuesday night.
Linn-Mar trailed Kennedy by eight points with 30 seconds left in the substate finals and Paige could see his glittering high school career coming to an end.
"There was a moment when I was getting a little nervous," he admitted later.
Superman donned his cape just in time.
Incredibly, Paige scored nine points in the last 26 seconds of the fourth quarter and willed the fifth-ranked Lions to a scintillating 83-77 victory in double-overtime before a standing-room-only crowd at the Prairie High School gym.
Paige finished with a school-record 49 points to send Linn-Mar to the Class 4A state tournament for the ninth straight year, a state record that refuses to end.
The Lions (19-4) will face Dubuque Senior (18-5) in the quarterfinals of the state tournament at 6:35 p.m. next Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
The eighth-ranked Cougars took a 60-52 lead when Elliott Christians hit one of two free throws with 32.1 seconds left, lifting the Kennedy fans into a higher stage of delirium as they sensed a satisfying trip to Des Moines for themselves.
Kennedy Coach Bob Fontana, still sweating on the sidelines, knew better. He knew it wasn't over.
"No, not at all," said Fontana. "Not with him."
Him, of course, was Paige.
Trevor Heitland fouled Paige on a 3-point shot, sending Paige to the charity stripe for three free throws with 25.9 seconds left in the fourth period and sentencing Heitland to the bench with five fouls. Paige went 2-for-3 at the line, pulling the Lions within 60-54.
Christians went one-for-two at the foul line again for Kennedy with 23.6 seconds left, making it 61-54, and then came one of the biggest plays of the game.
Paige drilled a 3-pointer with 19 seconds left and was fouled on the shot by Darius Fuller, sending Paige to the line for an unusual four-point play and sending Fuller to the bench with five fouls. Paige hit the free throw to make it 61-58, and suddenly it was a one-possession game with Kennedy's starting backcourt of Heitland and Fuller gone for the night.
Fontana did not like the fifth foul on Heitland, and he really didn't like that fifth foul on Fuller.
"Boy, I'll tell you what," he said. "I didn't think there was very much contact on that one at all. I didn't see any contact, but I'm 60 feet away."
Cody Bell tried to pass the ball in-bounds under intense pressure from Linn-Mar and tossed the ball too high for Patrick Martin, who leaped but had the ball go out of bounds in front of the Linn-Mar bench with 17.9 seconds left in regulation.
The Lions had the ball, trailing by three points, needing a 3-pointer to tie the game.
Guess who?
Paige went one-on-one against Alex Hayden, who stuck to his jersey, but Paige lifted himself high off the floor and drained the 3-pointer to knot the score at 61-61 with 8.5 seconds left.
"That's what Marcus does," marveled teammate Matt Lassen. "He's an incredibly clutch player, he's a great player. Sometimes you just have to let him take over, and that's what we did and he pulled it through for us."
Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson did not have to draw any special plays in that situation with his team trailing by three points in the final seconds. Just give the ball to the McDonald's All-American, set a pick and get out of his way.
"When he let go of that shot, I had a pretty good feeling it was going in," Robertson said with a big smile.
It wasn't over, just tied 61-61, and Kennedy had the ball. Fontana called a timeout, trying to salvage the game with Heitland, Fuller and Josiah Coleman - three key starters - all on the bench with five fouls.
Martin, a reserve guard, got a clean look at a mid-range jumper at the buzzer, and for a fleeting moment it looked like he had become an unlikely hero for the Cougars. The ball appeared to go halfway down the basket before popping back out.
Martin fell to the floor in agony. "I thought it was down," said Fontana, downhearted. "That's basketball."
The clubs headed to overtime, but Kennedy looked like a dead Cougar with three starters on the bench. Linn-Mar had foul problems of its own Derik Gogg and Jimmy Roth fouled out in the fourth quarter and Jon Schlotterback joined them in overtime - but the Lions had the incomparable Paige and new life.
Kennedy hung tough and grabbed a 67-65 lead in overtime when Christians hit two free throws with 1:28 left, giving him a career-high 28 points, but Paige whipped a pass to Matt Meier for an easy layup and a 67-67 deadlock heading into the final minute.
Kennedy committed a turnover and Paige had a chance to win the game in the final seconds of the first four-minute overtime, but Superman misfired and the marathon continued.
This time, the Cougars ran out of steam.
Paige drove, got fouled and hit the free throw for a 70-67 lead in double-overtime. Paige stole a pass and fed Meier for a 3-pointer, and suddenly it was 73-67.
Christians charged into Andy Henry and a few seconds later Meier made two free throws for a 75-67 advantage. Hayden missed a shot, then Nate Dick hit a free throw to give Linn-Mar nine straight points and a 76-67 bulge with 2:26 left.
Kennedy pulled within four points at 77-73, 80-76 and 81-77, but got no closer. Paige ended it, appropriately, with two free throws for his 47th and 48th points with 7.6 seconds remaining, breaking his own school record of 46.
Linn-Mar students stormed the floor after the handshakes, then Paige did a TV and radio interview while his teammates and coaches waited for him in the locker room. A chorus of "We Believe" broke out when Paige joined his mates in celebration.
Paige stepped outside the locker room for another interview, clad only in his game shorts, with relief written all over his face.
"Once I hit that four-point play and everyone got back into it, it was like, 'We have a chance to get this,'" he remarked. "We just grinded it out and never quit."
Paige refused to lose. Again.
"Coach Robertson always instills that in us," he said. "Never to quit and play all 32 minutes. We really did that tonight."
Actually, it was 40 minutes.
"I'll get a good night's sleep tonight," said Paige, who never left the game for a respite. "That was a lot of minutes, but we needed every one of them."
Linn-Mar began its streak of nine consecutive trips to the state tournament in 2004, when it won the Class 4A state title. The Lions also captured state titles in 2007 and 2011 and are returning to Des Moines as the defending champs.
"Nothing is sweeter than ending the season with a trip to Des Moines and getting to hang out with your teammates and making one last run at it, especially since it's my senior year," said Paige, who will play at North Carolina next season. "We might as well go down there and win the thing."
Robertson is looking forward to another trip to Des Moines and staying in the team's lucky hotel, especially with Paige on his side.
"I think everybody knows he's great. I think other people are starting to realize just how special he is," said Robertson. "He's a trooper, and I'm glad I get to coach him for at least one more game. Hopefully we can get a win on Wednesday and coach him a couple of more games."
If Linn-Mar beats Dubuque Senior, it would play Iowa City West or Waukee in the semifinals next Friday. Ankeny, Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Sioux City East and West Des Moines Valley are in the other bracket, with half the eight-team field featuring clubs from the Mississippi Valley Conference.
Linn-Mar clipped Dubuque Senior, 62-55, in their only meeting during the regular season at Linn-Mar on Feb. 7.
The Kennedy Cougars ended their season with a 16-7 record and No. 8 ranking in the final poll. They had a 10-point lead with 5 1/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter and an eight-point lead with 30 seconds remaining, but couldn't close the deal.
Kennedy missed seven free throws in the final 1:39 of regulation to severely hurt its chances. Otherwise, the Cougars played well except for a few untimely turnovers. "I feel like we deserve to be in Des Moines," said Fontana.
Robertson thought it might be Kennedy's night, until Paige came to the rescue.
"I'll be honest," said Robertson, reflecting on the final minute of the fourth quarter when the Lions trailed by eight points. "You get a little skeptical there and you think, 'Oh, maybe this isn't the year.' And all of a sudden you get a break and things go our way.
"These are the games you hate to see somebody have to lose and end their season," he concluded.
The Cougars wore pained expressions after the game, appearing a little shell-shocked.
"Give credit to Paige," said Christians. "He hit two 3's at the end of the game. No one else can make them besides him. He had the best game of his career."
Paige hit six 3-pointers and was 14 for 18 at the foul line.
KENNEDY (77): Coleman 3 4-4 10, Christians 6 16-21 28, Heitland 1 2-3 5, Bell 3 1-4 8, Fuller 3 4-7 11, Hayden 1 0-0 3, Martin 4 1-2 9, Jahlas 1 1-2 3, Struss 0 0-0 0, Carter 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 29-43 77.
LINN-MAR (83): Paige 14 15-19 48, Henry 0 2-4 2, Gogg 0 0-0 0, Lassen 2 4-7 10, Roth 2 0-0 5, Meier 2 2-3 7, Martins 0 1-2 1, Schlotterback 1 3-4 5, Dick 0 4-8 4. Totals 21 31-47 83.
Halftime - Kennedy 27, Linn-Mar 24. Regulation - Linn-Mar 61, Kennedy 61. First overtime - Linn-Mar 67, Kennedy 67. 3-point goals - Linn-Mar 10 (Paige 6, Lassen 2, Roth 1, Meier 1), Kennedy 4 (Heitland 1, Bell 1, Fuller 1, Hayden 1). Fouled out - Coleman, Heitland, Fuller, Gogg, Roth, Schlotterback.
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