In one word: unbelievable.

As soon as I saw Austin Fish's inbounds pass hit the floor, I thought it was over. Surely, the clock would run out as there were just 2.1 seconds left when Fish threw the pass.

But Julian Mavunga jumped, in synchronization with Marion's Jay Edwards Jr., and managed to tip the ball into open space in the lane. Then, virtually out of nowhere, Gordon Hayward did basketball's version of the scoop-and-score, sending the Brownsburg contingency into complete mayhem at Conseco Fieldhouse Saturday night. After all, the buzzer-beater meant that Brownsburg had claimed the school's first ever boys basketball state title...in about as thrilling of fashion as one could imagine.

"I don't know how I got open or how it went in. It's just an unbelievable feeling," Hayward said, almost immediately following the celebration. "It just went in, I don't know what to say. I thought it might have been over once (the ball got tipped), but it slipped out and I was able to get it up there (before the buzzer). I can't believe this is even happening."

Well said, Mr. Hayward. Hard to imagine there would be words to describe such a moment.

To put it in some context, the last two minutes of the 4A championship game, which ended in a 40-39 Bulldog victory in what was largely a defensive struggle, was quite full of drama. With Brownsburg up two points after a one-for-two trip to the line by J.D. Cosby, Marion got the ball with about 50 seconds remaining. They held the ball, called timeout with about 15 seconds to play, and junior Scott Wood drilled a 3-pointer for a one-point lead and 2.1 seconds remaining.

Keep in mind, Wood, a sharpshooter who came into the title game shooting 45 percent from behind the arc this season, was 0-for-7 from long distance at that point. Everyone and their brother thought that the game would be in the hands of Julius Mays, who ended up dishing off to Wood for the shot. Talk about some serious mental fortitude for Wood to be able to knock it down after struggling all game.

Those last few seconds were a great soap opera, from Marion's lead-taking 3-pointer to a series of called timeouts in a chess match prior to the final play. Then, from my seat courtside opposite the Bulldog fans, I saw (almost) the entire town of Brownsburg erupt in chaos. It was the stuff that scripts are made of. 

"Wow. It was a rollercoaster, it really was," said Brownsburg coach Josh Kendrick, talking about those last emotions. "During the timeouts, I thought our kids got to follow the learship of Gale Watson, he's kind of our spiritual leader. In the huddle he said, 'Fellas, believe.' It obviously didn't go as I drew it up, but it went in and that's all that matters."

Kendrick himself was like a little kid during the postgame celebration. I don't blame him.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he said. "Everybody dreams of this. There are times to be poised and there's time to be excited, and now is one of those times to let it all hang out. What a great story for these young men, who all year have been underrated, underappreciated and undervalued. To pull this off is a great, great chapter in their lives."

It was a great team effort by Brownsburg on Saturday, which explains why there were able to overcome a poor overall shooting performance to win the game. Mavunga was a beast again, but the likes of Fish, Cosby and Mitch Jankowski made big plays at key moments.

I've seen some state championship games in my relatively short time here, but nothing like that. I feel for the Marion squad, whose emotions were the exact opposite from the quotes you just read above. It was Indiana high school hoops at its finest, where a community was tied together through the bond of supporting the school. Well done.