There are 15 seconds left and the Falcons trail South Piedmont Conference rival Central Cabarrus by three points. West star Scooter Sherrill is trapped by two defenders in the far corner, inches from being out of bounds, inches from the pleading arms of his adoring fans and miles from finding a teammate who can offer help.

So what does Sherrill do. He does the only thing he can. He does what only he can. He stares down at the floor as if casually gauging the distance, then springs skyward and launches the ball toward the basket as the more than capacity crowd watches, transfixed.

The ball drops in.

It is a remarkable shot — the kind that most can only dream of making— the kind that Sherrill has made sort of routine over the last four seasons. It is a shot that sends an epic 3ASouth Piedmont Conference battle between two genuine titans into overtime.

“Heck,” says a delighted but unsurprised West coach Mike Gurley. “How many times has Scooter done that?”

The answer — a bunch.

“Great players make great plays,” said Central coach Scott Brewer, lifting his hands to the heavens after West’s thrilling 66-58 win. “A great player made a play.”

The overtime is no contest because Sherrill’s shot has taken the air out of Central (12-3 overall, 7-1 SPC).

Seconds into the extra period, Sherrill pulls up and nails a 3 and waves to the West fans, who have been screaming virtually non-stop for 32 minutes. Seconds later, he steals the ball, lays it in and points to his family. Now, West leads by five and is well on its way to an 8-0 mark in the SPC and a 14-1 overall record.

“Scooter just got into that mindset,” explained Gurley. “He got mad and hit a couple of 3s. It’s amazing how simple this game is. You stick the ball in the hole a few times and all of a sudden momentum’s on your side.”

It was on no one’s side for a long time. Central controlled the tempo in the first half, making West play a halfcourt game. The patient Vikings shot the ball only 20 times in the first 16 minutes and went to the locker room trailing 29-22, but feeling pretty good about limiting Sherrill to 12 points.

“They played a matchup zone and that played with our heads some,” said Gurley. “You wonder whether to use your man-to-man offense or your zone offense. The biggest thing was they made us stand around.”

The third quarter was more of the same, with West shooting the ball just seven times. Sherrill scored seven more points, but the Vikings were denying his pet 3-point looks.

“Every time West ran a ball screen for Scooter, we switched and double-teamed him,” said Brewer. “Our kids were defending him great and doing exactly what we needed to do to get a win here.”

Still, West led by as many as 10 in the third quarter with the help of a wiggling, double-pumping impossible two by Sherrill. And the Falcons were still up 43-34 early in the fourth quarter after consecutive glass-cleanings by huge sophomore Donte Minter, who simply rose above the Vikings like the Loch Ness monster emerging from a lake to redirect misses.

But then — from nowhere — came seven quick Viking points. An offensive board by Maurice Stafford, a steal and layup by Nathan Cranford and a 3-point bomb by Jeremiah Buck. Suddenly, it was 43-41 as Gurley stomped and bellowed for a timeout.

“They made big shots and we made bad decisions,” offered Gurley.

But even after the timeout, Central kept coming, tying the game at 47-47 with 1:47 remaining in regulation on a pair of Mickey Mickens free throws. Sherrill flew goalward intent on answering Mickens. Instead, he went down in a heap of bodies as his jumper sailed off the mark. There was no call and Falcon fans went crazy.

They went crazier still when Buck netted two free throws to give Central a 47-45 lead with 45 seconds left. Sherrill then dished to Minter, who was fouled and made one free throw to cut Central’s lead to a single point.

With 24 seconds left, West had to foul Central’s best foul shooter, Cranford, a sensational sophomore, who plays with the cool of an NBA veteran. Cranford sank two free throws for a 49-46 lead and the faces of the Falcons revealed desperation as they sped downcourt, trying to figure out a way to get the ball in Sherrill’s hands.

They got it to him, but once again he was immediately double-teamed and forced into the corner.

“We’ve got two guys on him in the deep, dark, freakin’ corner and behind the line,” said Brewer, who knew full well that West would go to Sherrill when it had to. “We had him defended just right. But ...”

But Sherrill, who had not scored in the entire quarter — who had not made a 3 the entire evening — brought down the house with his marvelous missile.

“I love making shots like that,” said Sherrill. “I’ve got the confidence to make that shot. My teammates ran the play for me and I was going to make it go. We haven’t lost here in two years and we didn’t want that to end.”

The overtime period was Sherrill’s property, from that opening 3 to his clutch free throws down the stretch.

“Coach told us after regulation, ‘Come on, come on, now, it’s our game,’” said Sherrill, who finished with 30 points, including eight in the overtime.

Gurley was right. It was the Falcons’ game in OT. West actually led by as many as 12 in the extra period, more than it ever led by in regulation. Sherrill, Minter, Brandon Mattox, Terris Sifford and Horatio Everhart all made overtime free throws to more than offset the efforts of Cranford, who swished two long 3s in the final 14 seconds.

“The positive out of this is that West knows now that we can beat them, they know we can,” insisted the diminutive Brewer, who traded postgame “What a games!” and bear hugs with Gurley.

Maybe Central can. But someone sure needs to tell Scooter Sherrill that.

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NOTES: West has beaten Central seven straight times since moving to the 3A ranks in 1997-98, including four times last year by 10,11, 13 and 18 points. ... Minter finished with 15 points. He’s missed double figures only once this season. ... Everhart made two key 3s and tied his career best with 13 points. ... The West-Central rematch is on Feb. 11 and will close the regular season.

CENTRAL (58) — Buck 13, Mickens 6, Stafford 4, Hardy 4, Knorr 3, Naumann 8, Russell 3, Cranford 17.

WEST (66) — Sherrill 30, Minter 15, White, Mauldin 2, Sifford 3, Everhart 13, Dalton 2, Mattox 1, Diggs, Williams.

Central 12 10 10 17 9 — 58