Glenn, perhaps looking too far into the distance, nearly hit a pothole and ran off the road Tuesday night.
The Bobcats blew a 19-point lead in the second half before settling matters in an 81-73 victory against Ragsdale in overtime.
Glenn (12-10, 8-3 Piedmont Triad 3-A) survived what could have been a damaging lapse. The Bobcats will play rival East Forsyth on Friday night with a chance to clinch a share of the conference title with Northwest Guilford.
"We just got complacent," said coach Monty Gray of Glenn.
For more than half of the game, it appeared as if the Bobcats would win by a large margin. Glenn led 12-1 in the first quarter after a Ragsdale free throw, finished the quarter with an 11-point lead and turned it up in the second quarter.
Trey Lofton scored eight of his 22 points during the second quarter, and Glenn pushed its lead to 46-31 by halftime. After quick baskets by Zane Waterman and Lofton early in the third, Glenn led 50-31.
But the prosperity was about to end. Bryan Rouse of Ragsdale scored eight of his 17 points as the Tigers closed the quarter on an 18-9 run and cut the deficit to 59-49.
James Stepp, who led the Tigers with 25 points, hit a 3-pointer and then made a steal and a layup early in the fourth, closing Glenn's lead to 60-55. The Tigers (4-19, 2-9) completed the comeback when Daniel Kanakanui hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:58 left, tying the score at 67.
"We just started slacking and we let them back in it," said Matt Hodges, Glenn's senior guard who scored 16 and made 10 assists. "Our defense slacked a lot, and we got complacent. I think we definitely looked past them a lot because, of course, I think a lot of us were worried about East Forsyth winning because if we beat East we win the conference.
"I think we were a little bit more worried about that than we should have been. I think it let them get back in the game because we weren't very focused. We are a way better team than they are; we just started slacking."
Najee Hairston and Hodges each missed shots on Glenn's final possession, but Hairston laid in a feed from Lofton to open overtime and the Bobcats didn't trail again.
Hairston scored six in overtime and assisted on a basket by Waterman on an inbounds pass. Waterman finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Lofton led the way with 15 rebounds.
"We backed off them a little bit, we started gambling, started playing selfish," Gray said. "They were fighting. It was similar to what we did when we played down there and won in double overtime. That's how the games go. I just want my guys to learn from this experience. We have to learn how to maintain."
Gray said he hoped his team wasn't looking toward Friday's game against East, which lost at Northwest Guilford on Tuesday night, giving Northwest at least a share of the conference title.
"I hope the guys are realizing we can play basketball, but we have to play it every opportunity we have," Gray said. "We can't play two quarters and hope the other team lays down. We have to put it all together, and now's the time to do it."
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