Kade Focht (11) of Marysville twists his way toward a shot attempt against Hilliard Darby on Friday. The Monarchs won, 62-56, in double overtime. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
The look on Mark Tinklenberg’s face said it all Friday evening.
An exhale of breathe and a smile told the story of the Monarch boys varsity basketball team’s 62-56 double-overtime victory over Hilliard Darby.
It was a tale of a scrappy MHS squad overcoming some adversity in improving its record at 1-1 for the young campaign.
“Since the preseason, we’ve been telling the guys we have to be the tougher team every night,” said the Monarchs’ first-year head coach. “That’s what we’ve focused on.”
It was an extremely gritty performance by a team that was coming off Tuesday’s one-point loss at North Union.
The Monarchs (who will travel to Dublin Jerome on Friday) trailed, 36-33, by the end of the third quarter.
Lane Coil knotted the score at 36-all with a huge trifecta less than two minutes into the fourth period.
The game went back-and-forth with a couple of ties before free throws by Gio Roberts gave Darby a 46-42 lead.
Marysville, though, kept up a fierce battle.
Coil converted a steal into a traditional three-point play that deadlocked the battle at 46-46.
After a couple exchanges in possession, R.J. Thornton hit the front end of a one-and-one for MHS, tying the game at 47.
There was one more tie at 48 as regulation time expired.
Nick Wever drilled a three-pointer that pushed Marysville out to a 51-48 lead early in the first four-minute overtime.
That margin, however, was not safe by any stretch of the imagination.
Offensive production bogged down for both teams over the next several minutes.
The Panthers, however, hit charity tosses to tie the game at 51-51 with 57.7 ticks on the clock.
Both teams called timeouts as the chess match between coaches sent fans from both sides into a fever pitch.
The Monarchs ran time off the clock until it reached 8.8 seconds.
MHS committed a turnover, but Darby missed a shot at the horn.
That sent the contest into the second extra session.
Marysville lost one of its top players, Kade Focht, to five fouls with less than two minutes left in the first overtime.
Wever, though, came through with a pair of three-pointers as the Monarchs took a precarious 57-56 edge.
The Panthers missed a shot and MHS responded with a bucket from Ryker Bowden.
Marysville held a 59-56 lead when Hilliard Darby turned the ball over with 34.3 seconds left in overtime.
MHS worked the clock down to 22.7 seconds before the Panthers were forced to foul.
Whereas the charity stripe was unkind to the Monarchs a few days ago in Richwood, it came to their rescue on this night.
Both teams were well into the double bonus when Bowden stepped to the line.
He swished both free throws for a 61-56 Monarch lead.
After a quick exchange of possessions, MHS’ Dayne Johnson was fouled.
He hit one charity toss with 9.8 ticks on the timer for the Monarchs’ final margin of victory.
Tinklenberg said there was plenty of credit to go around.
“Nick Wever hit some huge shots (all seven of his baskets were three-pointers) and Dayne Johnson came up with some big rebounds,” he said.
The Monarch coach was especially pleased with Lane Coil.
The smaller-sized cager finished with 10 points and a couple of steals.
He even stretched his frame for a key rebound that led to a basket.
“Lane shows up every day and is my second voice on the floor,” said Tinklenberg. “He made some big plays tonight.”
Compared to the excitement toward the end of regulation and the two overtimes, the first three quarters of the contest weren’t all that show-stopping.
Neither team managed a lead of more than a handful of points during that portion of the contest.
MHS held a 15-13 edge after the first period and took a 26-25 margin at the halftime turn.
Darby battled back for their 36-33 lead by the end of the third quarter.
Marysville
Wever 7-0-21, Bowden 3-6-12, Coil 3-3-10, Focht 3-0-6, Thornton 2-2-6, Allen 2-0-4, Johnson 1-1-3, Adkins 0-0-0, Fourman 0-0-0. Totals 21-12-62.
Three-point goals: Wever 7, Coil 1.
Hilliard Darby
Roberts 5-8-19, Panning 4-1-9, Horvath 3-2-8, Gilkerson 3-0-7, Sech 2-0-5, Ruland 1-0-3, Quimba 0-3-3, Carey 1-0-2. Totals 19-14-56.
Three-point goals: Gilkerson 1, Sech 1, Ruland 1.
The Monarch reserves dropped the preliminary game by a 54-46 count.
Merrick Reynolds led the Junior Monarchs with 20 points.