Indians rally in OT to defeat rival Tigers

GREENFIELD — Friday night was what a rivalry game should be when the Hillsboro Indians and McClain Tigers put on a show that went into overtime and was sealed with a slam.

For the final 20 minutes played, both the Indians and Tigers went toe-to-toe, but it was Hillsboro's Alex Van Zant who sank a huge 3-pointer from the corner, followed by a slam dunk that sent the Indians to a 56-53 victory at McClain High School.

"This is what this rivalry is all about," Hillsboro head coach Bruce Miles said. "Coming down to the final possession, with neither team giving up an inch the entire game. Give a lot of credit to McClain for coming back.

"They had a bit of a deficit there, and they clawed back in, so give them a ton of credit. Our guys stepped up and made some huge shots at the end, and we were able to pull out the hard-fought victory."

The win by the Indians (2-5, 6-7) also gave them a win in South Central Ohio League play, but the atmosphere of this game, and the way the final minutes played out, will leave many talking for years to come.

As the overtime period began, Van Zant sank the aforementioned 3-pointer with 3:32 left on the scoreboard, as his shot came from the corner in front of the Indians' bench.

The Indians stayed in front until there was 1:37 left in OT when Lincoln O'Connor sank a 3-pointer in front of the Tigers' bench from the corner to tie the score at 49. O'Connor led the Tigers with 17 points, with five 3-pointers.

The tie lasted for seven game seconds, until Hillsboro went back ahead by a single point off a free throw from Latrell Haithcock (who totaled 10 points), though 22 seconds after that, it was McClain who went back in front with two points from Randall Mischal for a 51-50 score.

After each team continued to battle, McClain (1-4, 4-8) moved ahead by three points with two free throws by Bryce Duff with the scoreboard reading 50 seconds.

As the Tigers led by three points Van Zant was the one who brought the Indians' fans to their feet with another 3-pointer in OT with 32 seconds on the clock.

Then maybe the biggest moment of the game occurred with Van Zant, who totaled 14 points, stealing the ball near half court and going straight to the hoop, slamming the ball for two points, putting an exclamation point on the win for a 55-53 Indians lead with 15 seconds left.

"Zach Young made some huge shots, and Alex with the huge three in the corner, then the big dunk to win the game … those were key for us," Miles said.

McClain called a timeout with 9.6 left, and following the timeout, they went for one last shot in the paint but were unable to convert a shot for points.

Logan Kibler pushed the Indians ahead by three points with one final free throw.

Miles spoke about what he said to his team during the final minutes of the game.

"I told our guys we got to attack the basket. We had couple sets we ran that we really liked, and we executed great. We ran out some lineups we haven't had all season, and guys really stepped up and understood where they needed to be. I was impressed with that."

Before the OT, the Indians and Tigers battled for four tough quarters, where in the first half the scoring was low with the score tied at 6-6 at the conclusion of the first. By the time halftime arrived, the Indians led by a 20-15 score.

MHS head coach Joe Wisecup credited his team for their second-half performance.

"Credit the kids for their second half, they battled back," he said. "To take nothing away from Hillsboro, but I think we shot ourselves in the foot in the first half with too many turnovers."

Once the second half arrived, both teams picked up the intensity as O'Connor scored the first points of the third, but the Indians answered with tough points in the paint by D.J. Brown and Van Zant for a 24-17 advantage.

Wyatt Jones and Duff combined for the next five points by McClain, including a 3-pointer from Duff with 4:21 on the third-quarter clock to get back within two points of the Indians at 24-22.

Duff finished with 11 points, as he was 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.

The Indians' lead soon went back to five points with Brown sinking a 3-pointer at the 3:35 mark, beginning an 11-4 run to end the third, including a 3-pointer by Van Zant, along with a three-point play to put HHS ahead 35-27 after three frames.

O'Connor began the fourth with a 3-pointer, but the Indians came back with two points from Van Zant, and following a layup by Reid Garrison, Zach Young connected with a rare four-point play with 6:37 left in regulation.

Young led all scorers with a game-high 22 points.

"Lincoln hit some big shots for us and guard for us as well," Wisecup said. "We weren't going to give up, and I'm proud of the kids for their effort. Sure, they are upset, but as we look back on this, they'll understand.

"I appreciate the fact we gave it our best effort."

Young followed that with two more points, but in his return to the court for the first time since the second game of the season, Ryan Faulconer connected with a layup to bring the Tigers to within nine points of tying HHS.

The Tigers continued their comeback with a 3-pointer by Mischal, two free throws by Duff and an off-balanced jumper by Faulconer to make it a 43-41 deficit with 1:44 left in the fourth.

The Indians regained the basketball, but that ball bounced out of the rim, then followed by fouling Wyatt Jones. Jones answered by making one free throw, and later Duff made two free throws to complete the comeback with a 44-43 lead with 49.9 on the scoreboard.

Young made the game even more tense with another big 3-pointer with 37 seconds remaining in regulation, but the Tigers again fought back with two free throws by Duff, tying the score at 46, sending the game into the aforementioned OT.

"At the end of the game, we got that lead, and you always hate to go into conservative mode," Miles said. "Our guys were a little hesitant, because we were like 'do we try to score or try to run the clock?'

"We had a couple key turnovers late that were really tough for us to swallow, but give credit to our kids … after we gave up the lead, we continued to fight."

In JV play, the Tigers won 31-28 in overtime. Brock Dean led MHS with eight points, while Sajoun Jones and Mathew Ryan each scored eight points for the Indians.

The freshman game saw MHS win by a 46-34 score.