Elgin falls in overtime to NWCC-leading Upper Scioto Valley

MARION ― Down a starter who is a main contributor, Elgin was undeterred.

Facing Northwest Central Conference-leading Upper Scioto Valley Friday night while clinging to league championship hopes itself, Elgin pushed the Rams to the brink. But in the end, USV prevailed 59-56 in overtime in boys basketball.

"We talked about how proud we are of them because they came in a man down tonight and everybody who was left stepped up at least one notch and played so hard for 36 minutes and played so well for 36 minutes," Elgin coach Bill Clem said. "They played together, and they all represent our program so well.

"It makes you proud as a coach when they come out and really, really compete. They feel horrible about losing a chance for a league title in overtime already, so I wanted to make sure we told them how much we care about them and how proud we are."

USV came into the game with an undefeated mark in the conference, while Elgin was a game back in the loss column, so it was one of the biggest games of the season in the NWCC.

And with three minutes left in practice Thursday night, Elgin senior forward Harrison Sager went down with an ankle injury and was unable to go 24 hours later.

"We had an idea that Sager wasn’t going to play, and that makes a team even more dangerous," USV coach Dre White said. "We knew they were going to play hard down one of their main guys. They wanted guys to step up and play, and they definitely did that. Kudos to those guys."

In the first three minutes, the Rams took a 12-6 lead, and then over the next minute, the Comets missed four straight free throws. With 3:15 left, USV led 17-6, and it looked like it was going to be a lost cause for the home team.

"It’s adversity. You face it in life. You’re going to face it in your job and in school. You’re going to face it in your relationships. It’s good for these kids to experience, maybe not now, but they faced it and I’m proud of how they faced it," Clem said.

A Jeremy Brown corner 3-pointer cut the USV lead to 17-11 and seemed to settle the Comets. A couple more corner 3-pointers from Darrin Zier in the first 2:44 of the second quarter further cut it to 23-19. Twenty-four seconds later, Isaac Dillon went coast-to-coast for a 3-point play to make it 23-22.

A third 3-pointer from Zier tied the game for the first time at 25 with 3:19 left, and Dillon's free throws with 2:49 remaining in the half gave Elgin its first lead at 27-25.

Elgin went into halftime leading 31-29, then built the lead to as much as six points in the first three minutes of the third period.

"That’s a team that once they get hot and get some confidence, they can beat anybody," White said of the Comets.

But the Rams showed championship moxie and didn't get rattled. With 2:15 left in the third quarter, they retook the lead at 42-41.

"I’m really proud of our guys. They stuck with it," White said. "There was a lot of adversity in that game, and we talk about handling that type of stuff all year. Being resilient is what we’re teaching them as much as X’s and O’s. We had some leaders step up and come through."

In the fourth quarter, there were five lead changes and two ties, and over the last 1:43 of regulation, both teams had shots at taking the lead, but neither cashed in.

On the first possession of overtime, USV's Maddox Underwood made one of his three 3-pointers of the game to give his team a 57-54 lead. Carson Rife drove to the basket to cut it to 57-56 with 41 seconds left, but the Comets were forced to foul and Underwood made both attempts for a 59-56 edge.

Over the last 20 seconds, the Comets had three attempts to tie it from the arc, but none went in.

"We faced it all year with guys going down with illnesses and injuries," Clem said. "That’s the second time for (Sager) and other guys have had to miss games. It’s been hard for this team this season to get on a roll. As we thought we were getting on one, we faced another setback."

The Comets (10-8, 4-2) got 21 points from Dillon, 12 from Zier and 10 each from Rife and Stephen Castillo. Elgin was just 9 of 23 on foul shots. It was the team's fourth overtime game this season, going 2-2 in those extra minutes.

"We’ve got senior night coming up next week, and we have a great class of seniors that have represented our program in a terrific way over the years," Clem said. "We want to send them off on a high note next week. We have the tournament draw, so we’re going to find out who we play in the tournament this weekend. There’s still plenty of season left and plenty to play for."

Upper Scioto Valley (13-3, 5-0) got 23 points from Underwood, 16 from Drew Stephens and nine from Alex Sanders. Like Elgin, it was the fourth OT for the Rams this season, likewise going 2-2 in those encounters.

"We’ve got two big (NWCC) games left and both are home," White said. "We have a young and scrappy team in Ridgemont that is going to play extremely hard coming to our place. It was a great game at their place last year, so I expect nothing less this year. Hopefully we can close the thing out at our place against Ridgedale in the last game of the year."

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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Elgin falls in overtime to NWCC-leading Upper Scioto Valley