North Marion wins Region title 63-61 over Keyser in double overtime
Mar. 9—KEYSER, W.Va. — North Marion won the West Virginia Class AAA, Region I title in double overtime, defeating host Keyser 63-61 on Wednesday night.
The Huskies (13-10) overcame a seven-point deficit with under a minute left in regulation to force overtime.
"I thought we persevered and played hard," North Marion head coach Steven Harbert said. "We faced adversity all year, but I thought we came out, especially in the fourth quarter with a mindset to not lose. I believe both teams left it all on the floor. It was a great game."
The Golden Tornado (17-8) fought till the end, but came up just short.
"We love our guys, we love the effort they give us every game," Keyser head coach Scott Furey said. "Rough to end it the way we ended it, but all I can do is appreciate all the effort that our guys gave. North Marion plays hard all the time, they made really clutch shots like you're supposed to."
Keyser went on a 7-2 run midway through the fourth quarter and led 47-40 with less than a minute left. North Marion responded with six unanswered points to cut it to 47-46.
"It's kinda the story of the game, the defense," Harbert said. "Defense and getting to the rim, we were able to get to the rim."
Preston Williams converted an and-one layup to make it a one point game with 25 seconds left. He hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left to force overtime.
"He's a senior with a will to win," Harbert said. "When you're a senior, you're supposed to make those plays, especially in the second half."
After a tightly contested first overtime with five lead changes and two ties, the game went to double overtime tied at 56.
"Leadership on the floor and then the ability to get downhill and get to the rim," Harbert said. "Size and strength, I thought we were stronger and bigger at that point."
In double overtime, the Huskies led 62-58 with 1:20 left. The Tornado cut it to 62-61 with 24.5 seconds left.
In the final seconds, Patrick Liller appeared to make an and-one layup to give Keyser the lead. However, he was called for a charge. The home fans erupted in frustration as North Marion held on.
"It was such a good play on Patrick's part to get in there and make that shot," Furey said. "It's unfortunate for him to have that foul called on him because it was so physical the rest of the way. It was a pretty physical game and it was rough to have it end on something like that."
The game started as a defensive battle with the teams tied at 3 with 5:23 left in the first quarter. Keyser took the lead on a Noah Broadwater 3-pointer, but North Marion responded with a 6-2 run to cut its deficit to 9-8.
Down one point in the final minute of the quarter, Broadwater found Mike Schell for a layup to give the Tornado a 11-10 lead after one.
"We were really tight in the first half," Furey said. "Shots were long, they were banking off hard. We told them at halftime go play loose. If there's a shot open, take it."
Keyser struggled offensively in the second quarter, only scoring four points. However, the defense kept them in the game holding the Huskies to nine.
It took three minutes for either team to score until Broadwater made a free throw. About 20 seconds later, Harley Sickles made a layup for the first made field of the quarter by either team.
"I'm not complaining about the shots," Furey said. "I could see they weren't as smooth as we normally shoot them. I'm sure the kids were tight with the magnitude of the whole thing."
Up 14-13 late in the first half, North Marion ended the second quarter on a 5-2 run and led 19-15 at halftime.
"We were able to get to the rim," Harbert said. "We were able to utilize our pick and roll game to get the ball down inside. I thought we did a great job inside. When you get into postseason play, there's typically not a lot of high scoring."
The Tornado got hot from deep to open the second half, making four 3-pointers in the third quarter coming from four different players.
"The worst thing that can happen whenever you shoot the ball is that you miss it, no big deal," Furey said. "If you don't shoot it, you're not gonna make it. Once they came out and realized it was a lot more acceptable and they weren't afraid of failure, it really did help."
The Tornado led 32-23 with less than two minutes left in the quarter, but the Huskies responded and cut Keyser's lead to 36-29.
Sickles led the Huskies with 17 points while Williams scored 16. Casey Minor scored 13 and Landon Frey added 10.
"When both of those guys play hard, they're hard to stop inside," Harbert said of Sickles and Minor. "But there's times neither one of them play hard all the time. They had the mindset in the second half they were gonna play hard. If you can't leave it all on the floor in a regional game, you don't deserve it."
Schell led Keyser with 17 points while Liller and Donovan Washington each scored 15. Broadwater finished with 12 points.
"Those are two seniors, that's what you're supposed to do," Furey said of Schell and Washington. "Senior point guard and senior center, supposed to put up big numbers."
The disappointing loss ended the Golden Tornado's season.
"You can hold your heads high, you turned things around a little bit," Furey said of his postgame message. "You're a team the town's not gonna forget with the ride we took them on. That's something that lives on, especially in small towns. They brought a whole community together, and that's way more important than sports."
North Marion advances to its second consecutive state quarterfinal on Thursday to play Fairmont Senior at 1:30 p.m.
Jordan Kendall is a Sports Writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @JKendallCTN.
Jordan Kendall is a Sports Writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @JKendallCTN.
