Benton Harbor forward Carlos Johnson (11) shoots the ball during the MHSAA boys basketball Class B championship game at the Breslin Center at Michigan State University on Saturday, March 24, 2018. (J. Scott Park | MLive.com)

By Jared Purcell | japurcell@mlive.com

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- If you don't know the name Carlos "Scooby" Johnson, it is time to start paying attention.

Johnson's name has been spreading through the recruiting landscape like wildfire. On Saturday night in the Breslin Center, the 6-foot-6 Benton Harbor sophomore helped fan the flames by hitting the game-winning 3-point shot in overtime, helping the Tigers claim a 65-64 win over Grand Rapids Catholic Central to capturing the Class B state championship.

After Catholic Central's Darrell Belcher missed a free-throw with 20 seconds left with Benton Harbor trailing, 64-62, Johnson grabbed the rebound and passed it off to teammate Elijah Baxter. It was a pass that Johnson almost regretted.

"I was really hoping (Baxter) would give me the ball for the last one," Johnson said. "I passed it to him and I was really hoping he'd pass it back."

Luckily for Johnson, Baxter gave the ball back to him shortly after, near the top of the key.

"I was ready for the shot and I knew it was going to go in," Johnson said.

Just took the shot from just to the right of the middle of the court from his view point. Of course, it fell through with 12 seconds left, giving Benton Harbor (27-1) the 65-64 lead.

Catholic Central (24-3) rushed down the court to try and make one last shot but a leaning jumper fell short, sending Benton Harbor into a frenzy.

"He was aggressive the whole game," Benton Harbor coach Corey Sterling said of Johnson. "He made a lot of game winners this summer so he's used to it. He started the game off aggressive ... It left his hand, I knew it was in too. Ice water."

The basket gave Johnson a game-high 24-point performance for the game.

Johnson's basket was the second heart-pound shot that Benton Harbor made as senior Shawn Hopkins hit a game-tying layup with two seconds left in the fourth quarter to send it to overtime.

Nine lead changes, six moments when the game was tied, it was an instant classic at the Breslin Center where, if you caught only the fourth quarter and overtime, you caught the game.

It's the first state championship for Benton Harbor since 1965 in Class A.

"It means a lot to the program," Sterling said. "It means a lot to the school system. It means a lot to the city. This is going to bring us together, this community. Everything will go forward now thanks to these awesome guys right here. They brought the city back. We're only going to go forward from now on."

Check back soon for a full report.

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Watch the game winner

Here is the game winning shot, including the celebration at the buzzer.

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Watch the game-tying shot

Here is the layup that sent the game to overtime.

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Benton Harbor celebrates their win over Grand Rapids Catholic Central in the Class B Championship on Saturday, March 24, 2018 at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan. (Mike Krebs | MLive.com)

3-point shots made for a wild finish

Catholic Central gave Benton Harbor all it could handle and then some. Sterling admitted that Benton Harbor had not seen a team as big as Catholic Central all season while Catholic Central coach T.J. Meerman said that keeping up with with the speed Benton Harbor's many guards was difficult.

Eventually, however, both teams just started chucking 3-point shots -- and making them.

In the third quarter, Benton Harbor hit five 3-point shots to try and pull away, with Devan Nichols hitting back-to-back 3-point shots to give Benton Harbor a 42-36 lead with 1:49 left in the frame.

Yet, Catholic Central stormed back in the fourth quarter on a flurry of deep ones, hitting three 3-point shots, including back-to-back 3's provided by Devon Boyd and Belcher, changing the score from a 47-43 Benton Harbor lead to a 49-47 lead for Catholic Central with 3:38 to play.

Benton Harbor's Elijah Baxter responded with a 3-pointer to take back a 51-49 with 2:57 left. Then, Belcher hit again with 41 seconds left to break a tie and make it 54-51, Catholic Central.

A 3-point shot by Bingham with 3:03 left in overtime gave Catholic Central a 60-57 lead and another 3-point shot by Belcher made it 63-59 with 1:59 left.

Of course, the next and final basket after that was Johnson's memorable shot.

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The Grand Rapids Catholic Central Cougars celebrate a 3-point shot in the Class B Championship on Saturday, March 24, 2018 at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan. (Mike Krebs | MLive.com)

Catholic Central still makes history

Despite the heartbreaking loss, Catholic Central made a postseason run like never before, making it to the state championship game for the first time in program history.

"We made history," Catholic Central senior forward Marcus Bingham said, who is moving on to join Michigan State's basketball program next year. "Everybody thought we weren't going to get this far. Everybody thought we were going to lose in the first round. Just to make it this far is really nice and I thank my teammates for playing how they played to get to this point. Congrats to Benton Harbor."

Although Meerman was as heartbroken by the loss as his players, he had nothing negative to say about his team's effort.

"The game didn't end the way we wanted to," Meerman said. "We battled and we battled all year long. I'm proud of guys. Congratulations to Benton Harbor on a big win."

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Benton Harbor forward Carlos Johnson (11) goes to the basket during the MHSAA boys basketball Class B championship game at the Breslin Center at Michigan State University on Saturday, March 24, 2018. (J. Scott Park | MLive.com)

1st star: Carlos Johnson, Benton Harbor

The new mayor of Benton Harbor, Johnson's game winner will be remember in that city forever. Along with his 24 points, he grabbed 11 rebounds. He shot 10-for-20 from the field, including 3-for-7 from 3-point range. He also had two blocks and played with four fouls for the last minutes of the fourth quarter and all of overtime.

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Grand Rapids Catholic Central forward Marcus Bingham Jr. (23) looks to make a pass attempt a shot around Benton Harbor guard TJ Jones (3) in the Class B Championship on Saturday, March 24, 2018 at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan. (Mike Krebs | MLive.com)

2nd star: Marcus Bingham, Grand Rapids Catholic Central

Shooting 8-for-16 on the night, Bingham finished with 21 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. He was also 2-for-3 from behind the arc with each 3-pointer helping fuel a Catholic Central run.

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Grand Rapids Catholic Central guard Darrell Belcher (11) looks to make a pass around Benton Harbor guard Dennie Brown (4) in the Class B Championship on Saturday, March 24, 2018 at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan. (Mike Krebs | MLive.com)

3rd star: Darrell Belcher, Grand Rapids Catholic Central

Belcher hit so many big shots for Catholic Central in the second half that Catholic Central may not have made it to overtime without him.

He scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half and overtime, hitting all three of his 3-point shots after halftime as well. He also grabbed 9 rebounds.

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Benton Harbor stats

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Catholic Central stats

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Benton Harbor forward Shawn Hopkins (5) shoots against Grand Rapids Catholic Central during the MHSAA boys basketball Class B championship game at the Breslin Center at Michigan State University on Saturday, March 24, 2018. (J. Scott Park | MLive.com)

Overtime: Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Benton Harbor

In overtime, Carlos Johnson with the game-winning 3 with 14 seconds left to give Benton Harbor its first state championship since 1965.

Nine lead changes in the game. Catholic Central led 63-59 after Belcher hit a 3-pointer with 1:59 left.

A layup by Nichols followed by a free-throw not too long later made it 63-32, Catholic Central. Belcher hit one of two free-throws to give GRCC a 64-62 lead with 20 seconds left. Carlos Johnson took the rebound on the missed second free-throw and went down to eventually get the game winning shot.

What an ending to the high school basketball season!

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Grand Rapids Catholic Central guard Devon Boyd (5) and Benton Harbor guard Dennie Brown (4) chase a loose ball during the MHSAA boys basketball Class B championship game at the Breslin Center at Michigan State University on Saturday, March 24, 2018. (J. Scott Park | MLive.com)

Fourth quarter: Benton Harbor 55, Grand Rapids Catholic Central 55

What a wild quarter!

After a back-and-forth flurry of big 3-point shots, Benton Harbor ties it just before the buzzer, 55-55 on a Shawn Hopkins layup. We are heading to OT.

Before that, Belcher hit a 3 with 41 seconds left to take a 54-51 lead.

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Grand Rapids Catholic Central fans cheer on their team during the MHSAA boys basketball Class B championship game at the Breslin Center at Michigan State University on Saturday, March 24, 2018. (J. Scott Park | MLive.com)

Third quarter: Benton Harbor 4, Grand Rapids Catholic Central 38

The game remained tight for most of the quarter but Benton Harbor might have found the surge to make the difference.

Benton Harbor got hot from long range, hitting three-straight 3-point shots and Devan Nichols hitting two of them. With that, Benton Harbor roared back into the lead, 42-36, over GRCC with 1:49 left.

After a GRCC bucket by Belcher, Benton Harbor responded with a Carlos Johnson 3-pointer to make it 45-38.

That was a huge final three minutes of the quarter for Benton Harbor.

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Grand Rapids Catholic Central forward Jacob Polakovich (32) looks to score during the MHSAA boys basketball Class B championship game at the Breslin Center at Michigan State University on Saturday, March 24, 2018. (J. Scott Park | MLive.com)

Second quarter: Grand Rapids Catholic Central 27, Benton Harbor 26

This is turning out to be a great matchup as the two teams feel each other out. GRCC finally began to find some momentum in the paint in the second quarter, retaking the lead in the process.

Bingham and Jacob Polakovich are two big reasons why GRCC has 16 points in the paint at half compared to the 8 points for Benton Harbor.

However, the biggest moment of the second quarter was when Bingham hit a 3-point shot to pull GRCC within one of Benton Harbor and then hit a layup less than a minute later to give GRCC a 25-24 lead with 1:45 left until half.

GRCC is shooting 10-for-27 (37 percent) from the field while Benton Harbor is 11-for-28 (39.3) percent. Carlos Johnson has 11 points to lead Benton Harbor while Bingham has 15 points for GRCC.

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Benton Harbor cheerleaders dance backstage before the Class B boys basketball state championship on Saturday, March 24, 2018 at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. (Jake May | MLive.com)

First quarter: Benton Harbor 15, Grand Rapids Catholic Central 10

GRCC led for the first half of the quarter before Benton Harbor began to make a run. Carlos Johnson gave Benton Harbor its first lead, 8-7, on a layup and then he followed that up by hitting a 3 just 24 seconds later.

Dennie Brown then wrapped up the quarter for Benton Harbor with a pair of buckets.

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Benton Harbor forward Carlos Johnson (11) shoots over Grand Rapids Catholic Central forward Marcus Bingham Jr. (23) during the MHSAA boys basketball Class B championship game at the Breslin Center at Michigan State University on Saturday, March 24, 2018. (J. Scott Park | MLive.com)

Photo gallery

Check out the photo gallery of the game's action. The gallery will be update during the game and after the conclusion.