North Oldham boys basketball takes down Oldham County in overtime thriller

North Oldham found itself down for most of Friday night’s game at archrival Oldham County, but the Mustangs were never out.

Dallas Roberts made sure of that.

The 6-1 junior guard scored 14 of his 17 points after halftime, helping the Mustangs erase multiple 11-point first-half deficits and claim a 53-49 overtime win over the Colonels.

Not only did Roberts help the Mustangs (12-7) avenge last year’s loss in the Eighth Regional final, he led North Oldham to its first win over its 29th District foe in seven years. Since that 54-51 North Oldham victory on Jan. 16, 2015, Oldham County (13-6) had won 11 straight in the series.

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It’s a performance Roberts hopes he and his teammates can build on should they meet the Colonels in the district tournament action. The Mustangs host South Oldham next Friday for a chance to earn the top seed in the three-team district tourney and earn an automatic spot in this year’s regional.

“Just showing that we’re able to compete and we’re able to get those wins is important,” Roberts said. “And going into the district tournament and the regional championship, that’s all we need is that confidence.”

The Colonels jumped out quickly, building a 19-8 lead late in the first quarter. A Hayden Burgess layup made it 24-13 with six minutes to go before halftime.

Oldham County’s game plan was to limit Roberts’ opportunities. The Colonels worked to double or even triple him whenever he had the ball in the halfcourt.

Because of that, he didn’t get his first bucket of the game until the last minute of the first half. However, it was a big one. His 3-pointer from the wing with :39 left cut the Colonels lead to 29-25 at the break.

Roberts said that bucket gave him a confidence boost going into the second half.

North Oldham coach David Levitch said Roberts showed his maturity by only taking three shots in the first half. Despite that, Levitch thought his guard still controlled the game as the point guard — a necessity since point guard Jack Fischer is out with an injury — by finding his teammates and not forcing anything.

The Mustangs never trailed by more than five the rest of the way and had several opportunities to tie the game or take the lead. But it wasn’t until a Roberts drive from the key with 3:27 left in regulation gave North Oldham a 37-36 lead, its first of the night.

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Roberts did miss the front end of a 1-and-1 up 41-39 with :24.8 left in the fourth quarter. That allowed Sam Powell to make two free throws with :14.6 left and force the extra session.

Powell would get the first basket of overtime on a drive with 3:11 remaining in the game, but North Oldham would control the game from there.

Jack Scales hit a 3-pointer off an assist from Roberts to make it 44-43 with 2:56 remaining. Scales and Ian Higdon added 11 each in the win.

The Mustangs forced four Oldham County turnovers in overtime and then went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line to secure the win.

Oldham County coach Coy Zerhusen said he liked the energy his team displayed early on, but he felt they got a little tired in the second quarter, missing out on a chance to widen the lead.

The overtime turnovers were emblematic of where Zerhusen thinks the team needs to show improvement.

“We got to learn to finish better,” he said. “It’s more than just making layups, that kind of finish. It’s more finishing plays out with loose balls and with getting rebounds. Getting the ball the right guy on an offensive set. We played really hard, but there were a lot of empty possessions that ended in turnovers for us.”

Burgess led Oldham County with 17. Powell finished with 16.

It marked the second time this week that the Mustangs rallied from a large early deficit to win. They found themselves down 14 to Jeffersonville (Ind.) before pulling out a 60-58 home win Tuesday.

“We’ve been in so many close games,” Levitch said. “We lost two games by a point, but I think our guys are really showing tenacity. We’ve really just figured out how to battle back, and that’s a sign of a team that’s progressing.”

NORTH OLDHAM 10 15 7 9 12 – 53

OLDHAM COUNTY 19 10 5 7 8 – 49

North Oldham (12-7) – Dallas Roberts 17, Ian Higdon 11, Jack Scales 11, Luke Anderson 3, Miles Gay 5, Grant Neal 6.

Oldham County (13-6) – Cooper Roush 5, Kenton Slechter 1, Levi Gilmore 3, Hayden Burgess 17, Sam Powell 16.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: North Oldham boys basketball takes down Oldham County in overtime