Eden Holt, left, is consoled by Katy Tompkins teammate Kristian Sjolund after the Eagles' 49-47 overtime loss to Allen in the Class 6A state title game Saturday night.
SAN ANTONIO - The Tompkins Falcons dared to dream that a 4-year-old program from football-mad Katy could win a state basketball championship.
Tompkins came oh so close to fulfilling that dream Saturday night before Allen snatched it away in an instant.
Donovan Parham's fastbreak layup with 1.1 seconds remaining in overtime lifted the Eagles over the Falcons 49-47 in the Class 6A championship game at the Alamodome.
Parham's dash to the basket came after Allen forced Tompkins' Jamal Bieniemy into taking an uncomfortable shot and a subsequent turnover with the game tied at 47 with five seconds left.
An outlet pass from the Eagles' Jaylen Walker set up Parham, who had a running start on Falcons defenders.
"We wanted to clear it out for Jamal," Tompkins coach Bobby Sanders said. "If I had 100 more chances, I'd do the same exact thing. I didn't want to call a timeout because their defense wasn't set, and if anybody has the ball it should be No. 24."
The 1.1 seconds remaining on the clock was just enough time for the Falcons to draw up another play for Bieniemy, who caught the long inbounds pass and launched a desperation 3-point attempt that narrowly missed.
It was the second overtime thriller of the state tournament for Tompkins (31-9), which knocked off South Garland 80-76 in the semifinals Friday.
Saturday's game had a similar ebb and flow but a different result for the Falcons, who were led by C.J. Washington and Bieniemy with 15 points apiece.
Tompkins arrived in San Antonio as the first Katy ISD boys basketball team to qualify for the state tournament. The Falcons leave with the runners-up hardware and the hope this season is a precursor of what is to come on the court.
In winning its first boys basketball title, Allen (33-5) becomes the eighth University Interscholastic League school to win a football and basketball state championship in the same year.
Eagles coach Jeff McCullough said it was difficult to exploit Tompkins' weakness. He had hoped to dial up the defensive pressure and force the Falcons to take a bad shot on the possession before the winning bucket, and Bieniemy said there was a lot of traffic around him as he tried to put up what he called a bad shot.
After Parham took the outlet pass and started his race up the floor, McCullough joked that he was running along the sideline as the senior guard sprinted up the court.
"I was just trying to sprint out and make sure no one caught me," Parham said.
Allen just missed putting the game away in regulation with Walker's 3-point attempt at the buzzer bouncing off the rim.
Tompkins flirted with wrapping it up earlier as well.
The Eagles took a 45-44 lead off Jaylon Scott's free throw to start overtime, and the Falcons followed with a turnover on the other end.
The score stayed that way until Tompkins got a corner 3-pointer from Eden Holt with 50 seconds remaining to make it 47-45.
That looked like the dagger until Allen's Walker converted two free throws to tie the game.
The Falcons had one last chance to win it on the last-second attempt by Bieniemy, who caught a long inbounds pass and heaved the ball toward the basket all in one motion.
"It was a good look," said Bieniemy, who has signed to play at Oklahoma next season. "I thought it was going in, but it didn't bounce our way and that's life. Just like that the season's over in high school. We just have to get past it and move on."
Sanders said it will be hard not to think about what might have been despite the accomplishments made by the program this year.
"It's gratifying that we got this far, and I'm really proud of them," Sanders said. "But of course, they call it the agony of defeat for a reason because it's agonizing. And you know what? It will be for a long time. As long as you think about this game, there's going to be a little bit of agony in it."