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ASHEBORO — The final conference game between Ragsdale and Trinity was one for the ages.

While the Tigers had their way with the Bulldogs during the regular season, the conference championship was a hard-fought game with enough twists and turns to fill a suspense novel. Jay Canty hit a layup as time expired to give Ragsdale (25-1) a thrilling 72-71 double-overtime win in the Mid-Piedmont 3-A Conference finals.

The Tigers trailed by five with 1:03 to play in regulation but a follow basket by Canty cut it to 57-54 with 37 seconds left. Ragsdale then caught a big break when Trinity (18-9) threw the inbounds pass out of bounds, giving the Tigers the ball beneath their own basket.

But things looked bleak when Canty missed the front end of a one-and-one and then further compounded things by committing a lane violation.

However, Ragsdale got new life when Trinity star Josh Pittman missed his one-and-one attempt.

Canty forged a tie when he nailed a 3 from the top of the key. Pittman missed a deep 3 and the game went to overtime.

But that was nothing compared to what was to come.

Canty hit a layup with 22 seconds remaining in the first overtime to pull the Tigers within one point. It looked like Ragsdale won the game as Tyquan Roberts nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner and then added two free throws on the next possession go give the Tigers a 68-65 lead.

"He's shooting over 50 percent from the 3-point line, he just didn't hit any during the game until then," Ragsdale coach Craig Shoemaker said of his starting center.

Trinity had the ball under its own basket with 1.5 seconds and Matt Watkins banked one in from half court to tie the game and send the crowd into a frenzy.

"We had a play but the ball was not supposed to enter that high," Bulldogs coach Tim Kelly said. "We wanted to get it around the top of the key and use the Valapariso play. We had to run the baseline to get it in over Canty. The play was designed to get in the middle of the floor. We got it to the guy it was supposed to go to but not where we wanted it. He turned and threw it and it went in."

But the drama was just starting.

The refs huddled and after an extended meeting issued a technical foul on the Trinity bench for spilling out onto the floor.

Shoemaker sent Wally Jones to the line but he ended up missing both shots, sending the game into a second extra session.

Canty hit a layup to give the Tigers the first lead in double overtime. The Bulldogs responded with a foul shot and a reverse layup by Pittman to take a one-point lead with seconds remaining.

But Ragsdale was able to drive the length of the court and Canty hit a layup as time expired to give the Tigers the win.

"We didn't want to call a timeout with seven seconds," Kelly said. "We debated on it but they got it in quick. But to let a guy drive 94 feet and then make a dish off and nobody stop the ball ... We just didn't execute down the stretch."

Trinity 15 14 13 15 11 3— 71

Ragsdale 13 14 14 16 11 4 — 72

Trinity (18-9, na) — Josh Pittman 21, Chris King 20, Matt Watkins 16, Justin Pittman 8, Jordan Harris 6.

Ragsdale (25-1, 12-0) — Jay Canty 28, Tyquan Roberts 20, C.J. Plummer 8, Josh White 7, Wally Jones 6, D.J. Alston 3.