Warriors capture crowns: Centertown boys edge Irving College in double overtime
Twenty-four minutes just wasn’t enough time to settle the score between Centertown and Irving College as they battled for the JV tournament title Friday night.
An extra two-minute period didn’t solve anything, either.
But in double overtime, the Warriors from Centertown pulled away to edge the Tigers, and took the championship with a 44-43 win.
Trailing 7-5 after one quarter, the Warriors went up 17-13 by halftime thanks to an 8-0 run to end the period. T.J. Cantrell scored five of his team’s final eight first-half points, including a 3-pointer that gave them their first lead of the game.
The second half saw Centertown pull away early, and take a 29-20 lead by the end of the third quarter. But Irving College bounced back behind Ethan Grider, who scored six straight unanswered points. A William DeLong steal and layup pulled the Tigers within one (31-30), and Grider hit a free throw to tie the game at 31-all.
A late 3-pointer from Cantrell gave the lead back to Centertown, and two free throws from Tyler Keaton pulled the Warriors ahead 37-34. But Delong came through with the game’s biggest highlight, burying a 3-pointer with four seconds left to send the contest into overtime.
Neither team established momentum during the first two-minute extra period, as each squad connected for a field goal and a free throw to go into double OT tied at 40-all.
Keaton scored just three seconds into the second overtime to put Centertown on top 42-40, but Grider answered with a free throw at the 1:07 mark to cut the lead to one.
Another Keaton bucket gave the Warriors a three point lead at 44-41, but Dustin Smith hit a pair of freebies with 16 seconds to play to cut the lead back to 44-43.
The Warriors missed four straight free throws as time wore down, but Irving College was unable to capitalize and Centertown held on for the victory.
Keaton led the way for the Warriors with a 25-point night, while Cantrell added nine and Timothy Patrick scored four. Jonathon Greene and Kendal Wooten had three each.
For Irving College, Grider scored 18 points, while DeLong had 10 and Justin Bouldin scored five. Dustin Smith and Darrid Wells had four each, and Josh Burton scored two.