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Northmont comes away with win in last second

Devon Carter’s shot keeps Northmont’s GWOC title hopes alive.

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By John Cummings, Contributing Writer 12:34 AM Saturday, February 11, 2012

ENGLEWOOD — Northmont senior Devon Carter is turning into the Elk slayer.

Almost a year to the day after burying a three-quarter-court shot to beat Centerville in overtime on the Elks’ home floor, Carter’s acrobatic jumper in the lane as he was falling to his left with one tick left on the clock gave the T-Bolts a 46-44 win Friday night.

“I have a lot of confidence in Devon,” Northmont coach Jim Brown said after his squad kept its Greater Western Ohio Conference Central Division hopes alive in improving to 7-2 in the division and 13-6 overall. “I’ll take my chances with him. He got a good look and if it was in, it was in and if not, we go to overtime.”

While Brown wasn’t 100 percent sure the game-winner would find the bottom of the net, Carter had no doubt.

“When I shot it, I knew it was in,” Carter said after scoring seven of his team-high 12 points in the fourth quarter. “I got a good pick from Troy Mangen and that got me open.”

Centerville had one last chance to force overtime, but Mangen intercepted the three-quarter-court throw-in as time expired and fans rushed the floor.

“It is not hard to play close and be competitive,” Centerville coach Jim Staley said after the Elks fell to 3-6 and 9-9. “It is hard to win because you have to take that next step. We have six games I honestly believe we should’ve won, but we’re not making that step up and we have to make that step up.”

The Elks battled to get back in the game after Northmont led 16-13 after one and 25-19 at the half. Centerville closed the third quarter with a 7-2 run, using three straight Northmont turnovers to cut the deficit to 34-32 heading into the final stanza.

The Elks took their first lead at 36-34 on a basket by Brett Kubaszewski with 5:14 left in the contest, but Northmont got the lead back on a three-point play by Dominique Stallings and didn’t relinquish it until Eric Meininger buried a 3 for the Elks with 8 seconds left to tie it at 44-all and set up Carter’s heroics.

“We knew it would be a tough game,” said Brown, whose team won by 17 at Centerville earlier in the season. “We played well at their place, but we knew this would be a whole different type of game. They made some big plays tonight.”

Centerville’s Jackson Replogle led all scorers with 16 points.

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