Kade Focht of Marysville goes up for a basket against Olentangy Berlin on Friday. Focht led the Monarchs with 19 points during their overtime victory. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
Marysville boys hoop coach Mark Tinklenberg must dig these overtime gigs.
Friday’s 63-62 OT thriller over Olentangy Berlin gave the Monarchs their third victory against six defeats this winter.
All three triumphs have occurred during either one or two extra sessions.
“That seems as though it’s the only way we can come out on top,” joked Tinklenberg with a relieved look on his face.
“It’s just another piece of the puzzle,” he said. “This is all part of what we’re trying to build and we’re trying to find ways to make it happen.”
The victory was a shot in the arm for a team that surely needed one, coming off recent setbacks to Fairbanks and Dublin Coffman.
When the Monarchs trailed, 51-43, with about 1:50 to play in regulation, it didn’t look like it would happen.
That’s when senior Kade Focht got the Monarchs kick-started.
He buried a trifecta with 1:20 on the timer to pull MHS to within 53-46.
Focht added a traditional three-point play with 50 ticks in regulation to narrow the gap to 53-49.
He came up with a steal on the other end of the court and fed it down the floor.
Leo Rausch was fouled on a three-point attempt.
He connected on all three of his charity tosses, slicing the Bears’ lead to 53-52 with 30.7 seconds to play.
Marysville had to send Berlin to the free throw line in order to stop the clock.
A charity toss with 26.3 seconds left gave the Bears a 54-52 edge.
Tinklenberg called a timeout with slightly less than 15 seconds remaining in regulation.
An errant MHS shot with seconds to play landed in Jayson Moore’s hands.
The 6-7 post player went up for the shot that tied the game at 54 and sent it into overtime.
The game had been a tight battle before the Bears climbed to their late fourth-quarter lead.
They held advantages of 17-12, 30-26 and 42-38 after the first three periods of regulation.
Berlin held leads of one-to-three points during the early going of the extra session.
Things looked a bit bleak for the Monarchs when Moore was whistled to the sidelines with his fifth foul of the game.
Focht, though, once again took the reins with slightly more than two minutes to play.
He scored on back-to-back possessions, giving Marysville a 59-58 margin.
Olentangy Berlin turned the ball over and the Monarchs called another sideline summit with 1:28 to play in OT.
Ryker Bowden gave Marysville a bit of breathing room when his basket pushed the home team out to a 61-58 lead.
Berlin sent a shot offering off target, but then converted a steal into a basket that pulled it to within 61-60.
Tension mounted on both sides of the MHS court as Marysville was sent to the line for the one-and-one.
The first charity toss was off the mark.
The Bears got a basket from Aiden Ackerman that gave them a 62-61 edge with 30.9 seconds to play.
Things rose to a fever pitch when Bowden was awarded a pair of free throws seven seconds later.
The Monarch sophomore calmly swished both charity tosses, returning a razor-thin 63-62 margin to the home squad.
The Bears worked the clock down to 17.9 seconds before calling a timeout to set up what they hoped would be the winning basket.
Whatever strategy was worked up in the huddle didn’t come to fruition.
The Bears had three shot opportunities before the final buzzer.
Somehow, none of them found the mark as the Monarchs escaped with the win.
Focht and Moore respectively led Marysville with 19 and 18 points.
Focht played as though he was determined the Monarchs weren’t going to go down to defeat.
“When everything clicks for Kade, he can be very dangerous,” said Tinklenberg.
Moore tallied his second consecutive 18-point game.
“We knew it was going to take Jayson six or seven games to get going after his (ankle) injury,” said the Monarch coach. “Now, nobody has an answer for him.”
Marysville
Focht 8-5-19, Moore 8-2-18, Wever 3-0-8, Bowden 3-2-8, Allen 1-0-3, Rausch 0-3-3, Coil 1-0-2, Johnson 1-0-2. Totals 25-12-63.
Three-point goals: Focht 2, Wever 2, Allen 1.
Olentangy Berlin
Abente 5-4-15, Imbody 3-3-10, Goodman 4-0-9, Stone 3-2-8, Brown 3-0-7, Gamble 2-1-5, Ackerman 2-1-5, Harris 1-1-3, Moeller 0-0-0. Totals 23-12-62.
Three-point goals: Abente 1, Imbody 1, Goodman 1, Brown 1.
Berlin’s jayvee team beat the Jr. Monarchs, 44-38.
Merrick Reynolds led MHS with 12 points.