BLACKSVILLE – The Clay-Battelle and Trinity Christian boys basketball teams battled into overtime on Monday night in Blacksville in the second regular-season matchup of cross-country rivals, which had some major seeding implications.
And in a game that saw Clay-Battelle dominate for three quarters, only to have Trinity mount a remarkable, furious fourth quarter comeback to force overtime, the Cee-Bees finally found their game in OT to outlast Trinity for a hard, clean, exciting 69-62 victory.
Clay-Battelle (13-4) came out with hot shooting hands, making twice as many three pointers (4) as Trinity made field goals in the first quarter to forge a big 22-9 advantage.
The Warriors (14-5) got to within eight several times in the second quarter behind Collin Lemley and Maddox Mousadis, but two long triples from C-B point guard Braden Ponceroff kept the lead in double figures at the half, 36-26.
“We’re a good shooting team,” C-B coach Josh Kisner said. “But only when we’re taking good shots. We got back to our game in overtime and took care of our business, which is a big lesson for us, I hope. It’s always nice to learn lessons with a win.”
Clay-Battelle stretched their lead to 15 late in the third quarter before Mousadis buried a buzzer-beater jumper, but few fans in the packed gym were expecting what was to follow heading into the final frame.
With little to lose, battling both a 13-point deficit and a ticking clock, Trinity coach Mitchell Bland ramped up the defensive pressure, especially on made baskets, and it worked. The Warriors forced turnovers, leading to transition baskets, and sped up the CB offense, which led to some shaky shot selection and limited second-chance opportunities.
It took 3:33 for TC to slice the lead down to seven points at 52-45, and another 2:22 to cut it to a single point at 52-51. Finally, after nearly seven dry minutes for the CB offense, Colt Sandy converted a driving lay-up to put Clay-Battelle up, 54-51. Warriors freshman Ty Hutson fearlessly canned a clutch triple from the right wing to tie the score at 54 with 34 seconds left to send the game into extra time.
Perhaps feeling like they’d survived the worst, or been given new life, the Clay-Battelle offense emerged from their abysmal 4-point fourth quarter. Cooper Payton and Jax Huggins both hit huge early shots from beyond the arc, and the Cee-Bees’ dominance on the glass returned as well, as they took away any second-chance points from Trinity.
The Warriors got to within four at 66-62, but could draw no closer, and the Cee-Bees had captured an essential win to split the season series with the Warriors.
“This was a no-lose game for us,” insisted Brand, upbeat despite the narrow defeat. “We came into this building, which is a tough place to win, and found a way to overcome our typical slow start, find our game, and nearly pull off a big, big comeback. We never quit, battled hard, and I’m really proud of them. We’ll build from this and continue to improve. It was a terrific high school basketball game.”
When asked if he’d ever won a game after scoring only four points in the fourth quarter, Kisner laughed with equal parts disbelief and relief.
“Not with all my starters playing, that’s for sure,” he smiled. “We got away from the game plan and started to rush our offense, especially with our shot selection. Sometimes we want to go 110 miles per hour, and that can be okay, but not when you’re up by seven or eight points in the fourth quarter against a good team. We have to be able to be a bit more deliberate in our half-court sets when the situation calls for it. That’s one of the reasons why I had Braden (Ponceroff) slowly walk the ball up the floor all night. It was just a way to let the air out of the ball a bit, to keep us calmer and more controlled on offense.
“I was also really pleased with how hard and clean both teams played,” he concluded. “There was hard contact, physicality, and fouls, but all of it was within the context of the game, and there was also plenty of sportsmanship and respect between rivals, and I’m proud of all of them. That’s the way high school basketball is supposed to be played.”
Both teams are back in action tonight, Trinity hosting Cameron at 7:30 p.m., while Clay-Battelle is on the road at Valley.
TCS – 9 17 11 17 (8) – 62
C-B – 22 14 14 4 (15) – 69
Trinity Christian (14-5) – Collin Lemley 5 5-7 15 Marcus Bland 1 1-3 3 Maddox Mousadis 10 2-4 23 Austin Porta 3 4-4 12 Ty Hutson 1 0-0 3 Christian Humberson 0 2-2 2 Jonathon Sheffstall 1 1-2 3 Briar Archer 0 1-2 1 Totals 21 16-24 62
Clay-Battelle (13-4) – Braden Ponceroff 6 0-0 15 Colt Sandy 7 0-2 16 Cooper Payton 4 3-6 12 Jax Huggins 3 2-2 9 Trey Huggins 6 2-2 15 Maddox Kisner 1 0-0 2 Totals 27 7-12 69
3pt goals made – TCS 4 (Hutson, Mousadis, Porta 2), C-B 8 (Ponceroff 3, Sandy 2, Payton, J. Huggins, T. Huggins)
