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On this date in area sports history…
On this date 11 years ago, Jan. 6, 1998, Greenon outlasted Tecumseh 73-72 in triple overtime took take the lead in the Central Buckeye Conference boys basketball race.
Click the jump for the complete story.
Published in the Jan. 7, 1998 edition of the Springfield News-Sun:
EXTRA, EXTRA, EXTRA
KNIGHTS GO THREE OTS FOR VICTORY
By Ron Ware, News-Sun Sports Writer
Nobody — certainly not Greenon Coach Kris Spriggs — was declaring the league race over.
But Spriggs wore an ear-to-ear grin and his players wearily but happily embraced one another after the Knights fought off host Tecumseh, 73-72, in triple overtime Tuesday night in their showdown for first place in the Central Buckeye Conference.
“We felt we had to get this one,” said senior Brandon Staggs, whose pair of free throws with 9.4 seconds left proved to be the difference. “We have a string of home games coming up. We felt if we get this one and Shawnee (on the road Friday), we’d coast.”
Spriggs cringed when he heard those words — after all, the Knights have nine of their 14 league games still to go — but he might be inclined to cut Staggs some slack. After all, if it wasn’t for the 6-foot-2 forward, the two teams might still be playing … and playing … and playing.
“It was big play after big play,” the fifth-year coach said, tidily summarizing a game in which neither team led by more than four points after halftime. “It could have gone either way.”
But the Knights, 6-2 and 5-0 CBC, made just enough of them to earn the distinction as the last unbeaten team in conference play. The Arrows, who shared the title with Kenton Ridge last season, drop into a tie for second with Shawnee at 6-3 and 4-1.
Greenon had hit only 9 of 17 free throws in overtime when an admittedly fatigued Staggs stepped to the line with 9.4 seconds left in the third four-minute extra session. But he calmly swished both, giving the Knights a 73-69 cushion and rendering meaningless Dave Barnhart’s three-pointer for Tecumseh with 2.3 seconds to go. The Arrows did manage to stop the clock with a timeout, but Greenon successfully inbounded, allowing the final 1.2 seconds to tick off.
“I kind of just figured I’d make it,” said Staggs, who finished 11 of 14 from the line. “I was tired. I wasn’t thinking about anything else except putting it in.”
Travis Franck scored 20 points, Staggs 18, Charlie Delacey 16 and Ryan Elliott 13 for Greenon, which scored the final points of both regulation (on Elliott’s three-pointer with 25 seconds left) and the first overtime (on Delacey’s free throw at 1:03) before Barnhart’s layup with four seconds to go in the second overtime extended the game again.
David Craycraft had 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead Tecumseh, which lost front-line starters Rusty Lane and Matt Atkins to fouls in the first and second overtimes, respectively. Barnhart added a career-high 16 points, hitting 7 of 11 shots, while Atkins had 13 and Lane 12.
“We gave ‘em a battle,” said Arrows Coach Steve Macklin, who was still sitting in his office, his gaze fixed on the floor, nearly a half-hour afterward. “I told the guys we just have to bounce back and play with intensity night in and night out, and hopefully we’ll get another shot at them in a game that’s meaningful.”
Tecumseh scored first in the final overtime on Justin Atkins’ short bank shot just seven seconds in, but Greenon got the next five points, the last on Delacey’s basket from underneath, to forge a 70-67 lead with 1:37 to go.
Craycraft answered with a nifty inside move at 1:16, drawing Tecumseh within 70-69, but Greenon got a break when it appeared to exceed the 10-second count as it brought the ball up against the Arrows’ press. Franck hit one free throw with 39.2 remaining, then, after Justin Atkins was called for traveling with 24.5 seconds left, Staggs sank his deciding foul shots.
Each team shot 42 percent from the floor. Greenon had a 44-38 rebounding edge but also made more turnovers, 17-9.
“It was just a good team effort,” Franck said. “Everybody played really hard.”
No one in the gym would disagree … once they catch their breath.
GREENON (73) — Franck 7 6-10 20, Staggs 3 11-14 18, Delacey 7 2-8 16, Elliott 4 1-2 13, Holland 0 1-2 1, Davis 1 0-0 3, Humphrey 1 0-0 2. Totals: 23 21-36 73.
TECUMSEH (72) — M. Atkins 5 0-0 13, Craycraft 10 2-4 22, Lane 5 2-2 12, King 1 0-1 2, Barnhart 7 0-0 16, J. Atkins 3 1-2 7, Berner 0 0-2 0. Totals: 31 5-11 72.
Three-point goals: Greenon 6-15 (Elliott 4, Staggs, Davis), Tecumseh 5-12 (M. Atkins 3, Barnhart 2).
Records: Greenon 6-2, 5-0 CBC; Tecumseh 6-3, 4-1.
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