Spencer returns, Red Riders win thriller in two overtimes
Trending
WEIRTON -- Weir High and East Fairmont played the most exciting game in many years inside the Carl Hamill Fieldhouse Saturday night and the Red Riders, after leading until the final shot in regulation, came from behind to send the game to a second extra period before hanging on for the win over the state ranked Bees, 76-72.
Weir High, which was winning it's fifth-straight, never trailed until East Fairmont took a 55-53 lead with two free throws to start the scoring in overtime. The Bees led 63-60 with 34 seconds remaining in the overtime when junior Sebastian Spencer, in his first game after sitting out the early part of the season with a wrist injury sustained in the final Red Rider football game, took a nifty pass from Luca Haught, went to the basket for two and was fouled. He drained the free throw to tie the game at 63-63.
East Fairmont junior, Luke Pollock, who sent the game into overtime with a long three-pointer at the final buzzer, took a home run pass on an in-bounds play and made the layup for a 65-63 Bee lead with 20 seconds remaining. Haught drove through the Bee defense to make a 10-foot floater in the lane with 12 seconds left to send it to a second overtime.
This time, the Red Riders took the lead, and while the Bees tied it once, they took care of business to improve their record to 5-2.
"We've had some time off to prepare for this game because of the Christmas break and we really emphasized to the kids that the two northern teams in our section, Oak Glen and us, haven't done very well against the teams in Marion County," said veteran Red Rider coach Mike Granato. "Tonight, I thought we showed a tremendous amount of resiliency. We let an 11-point lead going into the fourth quarter get away and we were 2 for 8 from the foul line going down the stretch where we could have put the game away.
"But we battled back from a four-point deficit in the first overtime and then did what we had to do in the second extra period. I think our guys are getting comfortable with each other and confident with each other. I thought Luca Haught really made an impact in both overtimes and so did Sebastian Spencer.
"It was good to have Spencer back. He started 22 games for us last year and his experience really helped us along with the depth he now provides. We were without one of our starters, Jake McCoy, whose family goes away to visit relatives every year at this time so having Sebastian back along with Brodie McUmar, who also was on the sidelines with a football injury, really made a difference.
"Another difference-maker in this game was Reed Reitter, who really stepped up to the challenge of playing against East Fairmont's 6-8 All-State candidate, Ben Underwood."
Reitter finished with 18 points including a key hoop with 1:40 left in the second overtime while Underwood, plagued with foul trouble, scored 12, including two from 3-point land. Both led their teams with eight rebounds each.
"We fell behind early and didn't lead till the overtime," said East Fairmont coach Tyrone Asterino, whose club now is 3-2. "That is a little uncharacteristic for us. We just made some mistakes. Not taking anything away from Weir. I thought they played a great game.
"We told our guys going into the fourth quarter to stay with what we were doing. We were able to get some stops early in the quarter and get some shots to go down. We were getting stops earlier, but we weren't turning them into poinits. Then, we got to playing with a bit more confidence. I think that helped us in making that big shot at the buzzer. It was a shot we had to have and Luke Pollock stepped up and made the shot."
While the Red Riders didn't do well at the foul line in the fourth quarter, they swished 7 of 10 freebies in the second overtime. Haught was 8 of 8 from the charity stripe in the game with four of them coming in the final four minutes. He finished with a game high 21 points. Reitter scored 18, most of them driving to the basket, and Spencer tossed in 15. All nine players that Granato used the in the game scored.
"It truly was a team effort tonight," he said. "The thing that won the game for us tonight was our kids' lack of panic. They never gave up. They kept their composure. I credit the kids, but also give credit to my assistant coaches, Paul Buffington and Dylan Cassiadoro for helping with the substitutions along with making decisions about defense and offense. It was a total team effort."
The Red Riders play next at home on Thursday with the nightcap of a girl/boy varsity basketball doubleheader with Steubenville Big Red. The Red Rider girls tip it off at 6 p..m. with the boys teams of the two rival schools meeting afterwards.
GAME NOTES
¯ The Red Rider reserves downed East Fairmont 63-52 with Skyler Jackson scoring 19 and Tyler Kelly 17. Landon Larnard had a game high 20 for the Bees.
Weir High 76-East Fairmont 72
East Fairmont 14-11-11-17-12-7 -- 72
Weir High 21-11-15-6-12-11 -- 76
EAST FAIRMONT (3-2): Harvey 1 0-0 2, Corley 1 0-0 2, Linn 4 5-9 13, Slusser 4 1-5 9, Wilkerson 5 4-7 15, Asterino 1 2-2 5, Pollock 6 1-2 14, Underwood 3 4-5 12. TOTALS: 25 17-30 72. Three-pointers: 5 (Underwood 2, Wilkerson, Asterino, Pollock); Rebounds: 34 (Wilkerson, Underwood 8 each); Turnovers 16.
WEIR HIGH (5-2): Spencer 5 3-8 15, Haught 6 8-8 21, McUmar 1 0-0 3, Gillette 1 3-4 6, Trupiano 2 0-0 5, Reitter 8 2-4 18, Nutter 1 1-2 3, Mikula 0 3-4 3, Buffington 0 2-3 2. TOTALS: 24 22-33 76. Three-pointers: 6 (Spencer 2, Haught, McUmar, Gillette, Trupiano; Rebounds 33 (Mikula, Reitter 8 each); Turnovers: 18.