Wildcats win emotionally charged OT game against Lions
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — There were times Tuesday night at Grandle Gymnasium where emotions were high. There were also times where the outcome of the basketball game was the last thing on the minds of fans at Fairfield High School. But once the final seconds of overtime ticked off the scoreboard, it was the Whiteoak Wildcats who were the winners, defeating the Fairfield Lions, 55-49, for the Southern Hills League win.
With 55.1 seconds remaining in regulation, the game came to a scary and sudden stop. A fan in the stands suffered a health problem, and that is when the game came to a stop; the gym went silent and the basketball game was put aside for something more important.
After an undetermined amount of time, the fan was resuscitated after CPR was performed with the help of Highland District Hospital Athletic Trainer Kari Terrell, and a few others, keeping the scene calm. EMTs arrived on the scene, taking the fan to the hospital.
With the game being resumed after a five-minute warm-up by both teams (once they came back to the court), the intensity returned to the Highland County rivalry, with the Wildcats leading by three points. Cameron Rolark made 1-of-2 from the free-throw line, bringing the Lions within two points of tying the WHS score.
WHS built a three-point lead with 15.7 seconds left in regulation; that was until Rolark hit an off-balanced 3-pointer, tying the game at 44. Rolark finished with 21 points.
Once the game was in overtime, Joe Michael, who led all scorers with a game-high 23 points, was first to score, with two free-throws, putting the Wildcats up by two with 3:46 left in the extra period.
Cody Ferrell, who tallied 11 total points, answered with two points for the Lions, but Michael sank a put back bucket, with WHS regaining the lead at 48-46.
The Wildcats built a four-point lead with a jumper from Doc Seip.
Then it was redemption time for Whiteoak's Gage Carraher. Carraher, who finished with eight points, had some trouble making free throws in the latter stages of the game but showed true determination in the OT period by sinking two shots from the foul line with 25.5 seconds left on the clock.
The game got closer with a 3-pointer by Cody Tolle, leaving 14 seconds left on the scoreboard. But the Wildcats made free throws when it mattered, once again, with Carraher going 2-of-2, followed with Seip making one for Whiteoak's 55th point.
For the game, the Wildcats (2-0, 2-2) were 13-of-27 from the free-throw line, while FHS finished 9-of-20.
"Gage came back and hit four big ones (free-throws), so that was big for us," WHS head coach Tom Wessner said.
The WHS coach talked about his team making big shots when needed for the second game in a row.
"I think in practice, we can put the guys in situations, using the clock. Get the ball where we are supposed to get it," he said. "We focus on the last three minutes, but we need to start focusing on the first 30 minutes and try to work where we don't have to take those big-time shots all the time."
The first three quarters of the game didn't produce much in the scoring column for either team but did have defensive displays from each team.
"We had half-court sets, so for some reason, after one pass or two passes, we think we have to have a shot, which shouldn't be the case. We can make four, five or six good passes and get a good shot," Wessner said. "The quarters we do that, we score 15-plus points all the quarters we take our time and pass the basketball. The quarters we don't do that, we are averaging less than 10 points."
The first quarter ended with a tied score of 8-8. Carraher sank a 3-pointer with 49 seconds left in the opening frame to tie the game.
"I brought that up a couple times to the team. I've told them if they stay in the offense, they'll be fine," Wessner said of the first-quarter scoring struggles.
In the second quarter, Seip broke the tie first, scoring two points for a 10-8 advantage. The Wildcats turned their two-point lead into five points, with Michael combining a free throw and an alley-oop style bucket with the pass from Seip. Seip finished with 12 points.
Cole Putman scored Fairfield's first points of the quarter, and after two more points from Seip, Austin Hildebrant put down a basket, bringing the Lions back within three points of tying the game.
Tying the game and taking the lead is what Ferrell provided the Lions (0-2, 0-4) with 2:21 left in the first half, scoring back-to-back transition points, something the Lions as a whole had trouble converting the entire game. Ferrell tied the game one last time in the half with a basket with just 12 seconds left on the clock.
"We just didn't finish around the basket," Carson said of his team not scoring transition points in the first half. "We are still trying to alter our shots because we are afraid people are going to block them. We've just got to finish when we have layup opportunities, make crisp passes with the basketball.
"To sum up the night, all I can say is it was emotionally draining. We put all the time and effort (into this), and the kids execute the game plan in the first half, but little things here and there hurt us. I'm not blaming the effort, it's just we have to make better decisions with the basketball."
Once halftime ended and the third quarter was finished, the Wildcats led by three points at 32-29.
Each team exchanged baskets, with the Wildcats leading the quarter, 12-9.
For the game, the Wildcats were 13-of 27 from the free-throw line, while FHS finished 9-of-20.
"We have to make free-throws and take care of the basketball," Carson said.
Unofficially, the Lions committed 28 turnovers, 19 in the second half.
"When we get the opportunity, we got to take advantage of them. In the first quarters, we get blocked, miss free throws. Little opportunities like that, we have to start taking advantage of them," Carson said.
The win lifts the Wildcats to 2-0 in the SHL and 2-2 overall. FHS falls to 0-2 in the league and 0-4 overall.