Tigers fall to Vinton County in double overtime

It was a game of two halves Friday night on the McClain hardwood when the Tigers and visiting Vinton County Vikings battled to a 72-69 double-overtime thriller, where the Vikings squeaked by at the end.

McClain played outstanding on both ends of the floor in the first half and held a huge 37-17 advantage at the break, which was due mostly to the fact that the Tigers shot lights out from behind the arc where they made eight threes. But the second half saw Vinton County come out in an aggressive full-court pressure defense, which resulted into numerous McClain turnovers that were turned into early layups.

The Vikings outscored the Tigers 42-22 in the second half to erase the first-half deficit and send the game into overtime.  Both teams tallied seven points in the first extra frame, but the Vikings won the second overtime period 8-3 and held on for the hard-fought and physical non-conference victory.

“We got good shots in the first half because we made extra complementary passes,” McClain head coach Michael Noszka said. “Passing is a lost art in the game of basketball today, and I still think it’s the most important.

“We knew we were going to get pressure from them in the second half, but I really appreciate the effort of our kids tonight. They really battled through a lot of adversity, foul problems and injuries. I thought Seth (Weller) was very courageous tonight coming back into the game after being injured.”

McClain jumped out to an early 10-2 lead and increased it to 21-9 at the end of the first period.

Michael Noszka Jr. was the big offensive performer in the frame, sinking three long balls and leading all scorers with nine first-quarter points, and Weller added five, which included a long three. Jordan Bell also drained a trifecta, and Andrew Potts and Owen Sykes both got a basket for the Tigers.

In the second period, McClain continued to dominate both offensively and defensively and stretched their advantage to 37-17 after outscoring the Vikings, 16-9.

Bell connected on two more long balls giving him three for the game and nine points at halftime. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Bell fouled out late in the fourth quarter, which probably affected the outcome of the contest.

Andrew Potts also got going offensively in the second period where he made the final four points of the half for McClain.

Things started well for the Tigers in the third when Bell scored, giving McClain a convincing 39-17 advantage, but things quickly snowballed in the wrong direction after that.

Vinton County came out in the aforementioned full-court trapping zone defense, and the 21-point deficit quickly became just seven, with McClain leading 46-29 at the end of the third. The Vikings continued to chip away in the fourth and eventually took their first lead of the game, 56-55, with just 1:30 remaining in regulation on a long three-point shot by Hayden Reynolds.

Potts answered for McClain, putting the Tigers back on top 57-56 at the 1:15 mark, and after Vinton County scored three straight points for a 59-57 advantage, Weller sent the home court fans into a frenzy with a game-tying lay-in, sending the contest into the first overtime.

Matt Hembree put the Vikings ahead 61-59 with a nice inside stick-back to begin the extra period, but Weller answered again for the Tigers at the 3:00 mark.

After Vinton County outscored McClain 5-2 over the next couple of minutes and looked like they would win, Weller drained another long three with seconds showing on the clock, sending the game into the second OT, 66-66.

The Vinton County full-court pressure finally seemed to dictate the action in the last overtime period when the Tigers just seemed to run out of gas after giving everything they had for the four quarters of regulation and the two extra frames.

The Vikings scored first on a stick-back by their 6-6 big man Ashton Allman, and Garrett Brown followed with a bucket for a 70-66 advantage.

Weller connected on a pair of free throws, cutting the lead to 70-68, but the Vikings held on for the nail-biting and exciting win.

“We’re getting better, we really are,” Noszka said. “This was like a Big Ten game. Vinton County had all three pieces — a good point guard, a wing that can shoot and a big post-player with some other good players around them.

“We need to get more people scoring, but our defense is much better, holding a team like them to just 17 points in the first half and most of their points in the second half came off turnovers. I know it’s not showing up on our wins and losses, but we really are getting better.”

Seth Weller played a solid all-around game and was McClain’s leading scorer with a team-high 21 points. Jordan Bell, despite fouling out, had an outstanding offensive ballgame scoring 16 points.

Andrew Potts and Micheal Noszka Jr. also reached double figures in scoring with 13 and 11, respectively. Rounding out the scoring for the Tigers were Owen Sykes with six and Jayden Allison with two. 3-point field goals for McClain: Bell 4, Noszka Jr. 3 and Weller 3. The Tigers converted 7-of-12 free-throws for 58 percent.

Vinton County was led in scoring by junior point guard Cobra Sharp, who had a game-high 25 points, followed by Garett Brown and Ashton Allman, who scored 14 and 11, respectively. The Vikings (8-2) made 14-of-21 foul shots for 66 percent.