Dalton Stevens’ voice — or lack thereof — stated all of it.
As the ultimate buzzer sounded to seal an 82-79 win for Mark Morris over Columbia River in double time beyond regulation Wednesday, Stevens, the Monarchs’ main scorer with 24 factors, yelled on the high of his lungs whereas working throughout the courtroom celebrating.
By the point he greeted Mark Morris supporters who made the journey from Longview to J. Hoover Gymnasium, Stevens had gone hoarse, a small worth to pay in a monumental highway win.
“It’s huge,” Stevens stated. “… It’s always a tough game to (play). We knew it was going to be tough coming down here. Last year we lost down here, and we really wanted to grab this one.”
With each groups tied for second place within the 2A Higher St. Helens League standings one sport again of R.A. Lengthy, 32 minutes, fittingly, weren’t sufficient to determine a winner.
They traded baskets within the remaining seconds of regulation, with Mark Morris’ Carson Bogner hitting a go-ahead 3-pointer and River’s Luca Phillips knotting the sport at 64-64 on a layup with 11 seconds left. Regardless of lacking on its remaining two shot makes an attempt, the Monarchs felt assured going into OT after getting back from seven factors down coming into the fourth quarter.
“I felt like once we hit overtime I knew we kind of had it,” stated Bogner, who added 18 factors. “I wasn’t tired at all. I felt like we had momentum and I was like, ‘yeah, we’re gonna win this one.’”
River scored first in each time beyond regulation durations, together with the second time beyond regulation when baskets from Ari Richardson and John Reeder gave the Rapids a 74-70 benefit.
Like a lot of the second half, Mark Morris didn’t thoughts taking part in with a deficit.
A foul referred to as towards River, mixed with a technical foul assessed to the Rapids’ bench, awarded the Monarchs 4 free throws and possession. They cashed in two free throws, plus a Bogner 3-pointer, to reclaim a 75-74 lead with two minutes left.
After Aaron Hoey scored a go-ahead basket for River, Mark Morris countered with one other 3-pointer, this one from Nathan Stephens, who added 17 factors.
That, plus a pair of Stevens free throws, gave the Monarchs a three-point cushion with 11 seconds to play.
Richardson and Bogner every hit two free throws, which left River 5 seconds to go the size of the courtroom for a game-tying shot. The Rapids’ bought a glance, a deep 3-point try that rolled round and out. The sound of the buzzer was music to the Monarchs’ ears.
“We really pride ourselves on having resilience in games,” Stevens stated. “Even if we find ourselves down, it’s important to stay in it and keep our spirits up, energy up and come back to win the game.”
The win saved the Monarchs’ (16-2, 9-2) league title hopes intact with three common season video games left, concluding with a must-win rematch towards rival R.A. Lengthy on Feb. 7.
“I give all the credit to my players who just played their hearts out tonight,” Mark Morris coach Ken Kelly stated. “We had a balanced scoring attack and played great team defense when it mattered most to get it done.”
River (13-4, 8-3), led by Hoey’s 26 factors, misplaced its second straight after falling to R.A. Lengthy on Jan. 24.
Between that six-point loss and Wednesday’s consequence, during which River led for all however two minutes of the second half, the Rapids felt like they gave away two winnable video games. Now, they discover themselves in third place within the 2A GSHL standings and can need assistance in an effort to transfer up.
“We’ll one of the two teams again, if not both of them, and both games we let get of of our grasp,” River coach Mark Ganter stated. “Up there at R.A. Lengthy, we let that get out of our grasp (with) a pair ill-advised pictures. Right this moment, (two) overtimes, it goes each methods however we nonetheless left just a few on the desk.
“Defensively we did decent, (but) we’ve got to do better. Didn’t rebound as well as I thought we would. Sometimes on offense it looked like we’re kind of disorganized, and I’ve gotta watch the film. I’ve gotta figure out what the heck that is. That’s two games in a row where we’re kind of just floundering.”
MARK MORRIS 82, COLUMBIA RIVER 79 (2OT)
MARK MORRIS — Dalton Stevens 24, Drew Ibarreta 15, Zane Armstrong 0, Nathan Stephens 17, Mark Hendrickson 3, Carson Bogner 18, Zander Jendro 0, Mac West 5. Totals 27 (9) 19-23 82.
COLUMBIA RIVER — Alex Pont 0, Ari Richardson 18, Kellen Clary 0, Javen Fletch 9, John Reeder 13, Tyer Miles 3, Luca Phillips 10, Aaron Hoey 26. Totals 32 (9) 6-9 79.
Mark Morris 18 11 11 24 6 12—82
Col. River 15 20 12 17 6 9—79