The Caldwell County boys’ basketball team beat visiting Webster County 62-58 in overtime on Saturday, part of the 6th/7th District Challenge. The win gets the Tigers to an even 7-7 on the season, while the Trojans slip to 12-5, and see a three-game win streak snapped.
The Tigers fell behind to begin the game, with Coach Daniel Kukahiko taking a timeout down 7-3 with two minutes played. The message in the timeout may have been to get the ball to junior guard John Davis, as Davis knocked down three consecutive three-pointers to put the Tigers in front at 12-9 and force the Trojans to call a timeout to stem the run. With Caldwell up 5 and only seconds left in the quarter, Webster County senior guard Chatman Ellis nailed a jumper at the buzzer to cut the lead to 18-15.
With a minute and a half gone in the second quarter, Davis answered a Webster three with his fourth three-pointer of the first half to push the lead back to 5. With the lead at 4, junior guard Derrin Boyd drove the lane and scored just seconds before halftime, giving Caldwell a 31-25 lead at the break.
Davis led all scorers with 14, followed by Boyd’s 11. Ellis was high point man for the Trojans with 9.
With only 30 seconds gone in the third quarter, a layup by sophomore guard JaMarius Blaine gave the Tigers their biggest lead at 34-25 and brought about a Trojan timeout. Ellis, Webster’s senior leader, took over from there scoring 13 points over the next four minutes to get the Trojans to within 1 at 39-38. Soon after, a Webster and-one would give them the lead for the first time since early in the first quarter. After layups by Boyd and junior forward Jameer Riley restored Caldwell’s lead, a Webster technical foul allowed Boyd to connect on two free throws for a 45-41 lead to close out the third quarter.
The Trojans opened the fourth with a 4 point spree to again cut the lead to 1, but Caldwell answered with two free throws from freshman guard Tripp Branch. Neither team could get any separation over the next four minutes, and with 2:45 to play two Webster free throws once again gave them the lead at 50-49. With 19 seconds left and the Tigers trailing by 2, sophomore forward Cayden Fraliex appeared to have tied the game, but the basket was waved off on a contentious charge call, and it began to look bleak for Caldwell. After Ellis hit 1 of 2 at the line to give the Trojans a 52-49 lead, Caldwell called a timeout with 11 seconds left to draw up a final play. With 2.2 seconds left in regulation, the ball found its way to Fraliex in the corner and the sophomore didn’t hesitate, drilling a three to send the game into overtime.
With 2:19 to play in the overtime period, a Webster three-pointer put them ahead, but Riley countered with a three of his own to knot the game again. With just under a minute to play, a short jumper by Branch restored the Caldwell lead, this time for good. With 10 seconds left, Riley hit 1 of 2 free throws to make it a two-possession game at 62-58, giving the Tigers a tough win over the highly-rated Trojans.
Davis led the way for the Tigers with 17 points, followed by Boyd’s 15. Fraliex had 9, and Branch and Riley both scored 6. Blaine finished with 5, and sophomore guard Adarius Riley and junior center Seth Scott both added a bucket. The Trojan’s Ellis led all scorers with 27.
For Caldwell, a big 7th District match-up with Madisonville-North Hopkins looms on Tuesday, with the Maroons still smarting from an 18-point home loss to University Heights in their last outing. The Maroons are 2-0 in district play, while Caldwell is 1-0.