Cross Hackathorne of Fairbanks drives to the basket for a layup in overtime while a West Liberty defender attempts to block his path to the basket. Hackathorne made a three in the finals seconds of regulation to push the game into overtime and made the layup to win the ball game.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
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Athletes don’t always have to be great from the start to finish of a game to be an impact basketball player. Sometimes it is answering the call when needed that really impacts the game.
That was the case for Fairbanks’ Cross Hackathorne as he helped raise the team above their Ohio Heritage Conference rivals West Liberty, 59-57, in overtime on Friday.
Hackathorne not only hit the winning shot with a drive down the lane in the final three seconds of OT, but also hit a three-point goal in the final three seconds of the fourth quarter to push the game into the extra session.
“There were big shots when we needed them and that pushed us to overtime,” said head coach Justin George. “To win it with three seconds to go it was a big thing. He (Hackathorne) stepped up big when we needed it.”
Hackathorne came up big in the final minutes of the game, but was not a factor in the first quarter of the contest. He was only able to come up with a single basket despite the Panthers opening up with an 18-10 lead over the Tigers.
West Liberty did not take the eight-point deficit lying down, though, and took full advantage of some mental mistakes by the Panthers.
“We got kind of complacent with not running our offense, taking quick shots and just some mental mistakes that compounded and gave them some easy opportunities,” said George. “They scored four points on run-outs. We struggled on rebounds, they would rebound it and throw it to the other end. It was just mental things like that.”
Those mistakes led to the Tigers reeling FHS to tie the game at 20-20 midway through the second quarter.
A timely basket from beyond the arc by Mason Smith, however, gave Fairbanks a 27-24 halftime edge.
The tight contest was nothing new for the Panthers. It has been this tight since Fairbanks joined the league, according to George.
“If you look at scores from past years,” he said, “it has been three points here, three points there, overtime. We got them once by double digits last year, but it has been back-and-forth every time since we joined the OHC.”
The battle continued in the third quarter. The Tigers had solid shooting from beyond the arc and nailed three-of-five from the charity stripe. The consistency gave them the first lead of the ball game at the end of the third quarter, 43-41.
The final stanza, though, was all Fairbanks. Hackathorne found the bottom of the net with ease, tallying a trio of three-pointers.
Smith tallied another three, but had to collect it off of a good bucket and shot from the free throw line.
The teams kept the game tight in OT with only a bucket separating them.
With time ticking away, Hackathorne took a pass at the top of the key, made a quick step around adefender and saw an opening to the basket.
He drove down the lane and put up his layup with only three seconds left.
The Tigers used a timeout to set up their final offensive opportunity.
They ran a play to take a three-point shot from the corner, but the offering left the shooter’s hand a tick too late to count.
The Panthers (3-1) will return to court on Tuesday at Mechanicsburg.
Fairbanks
Hackathorne 6-2-17, Green 7-1-15, Smith 4-2-11, Nicole 3-1-8, Beem 3-1-8. Totals 23-7-59.
Three-point goals: Hackathorne 3, Smith 1, Nicole 1, Beem 1
West Liberty
Loffing 5-5-17, Burden 5-1-12, McGill 4-0-9, Nenso 4-0-9, McGuire 2-1-6, Eggleston 1-0-2, Siegen-Haler 1-0-2. Totals 22-7-57.
Three-point goals: Loffing 2, Burden 1, Nenso 1, McGill 1, McGuire 1