Garrett Taylor of MHS hits a basket despite Olentangy’s defensive pressure. The Monarchs beat the Braves, 54-52. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
It only stands to reason that a game between two pretty evenly-matched teams would be decided at the wire.
A couple of free throws from Marysville’s “Mr. Clutch,” Jack Christian gave the Monarchs a 54-52 victory over Olentangy on Friday.
Christian sank his charity tosses with 1.8 seconds to play in the fourth quarter of the MHS Homecoming game.
The triumph puts the Monarchs in lone possession of second place in the OCC Cardinal Division with a 6-3 mark.
MHS (12-8 overall) trails Thomas Worthington in the division, while Olentangy slipped to third with a 5-4 record.
“We felt we didn’t play as well as we could or should have when we lost at Olentangy earlier in the season,” said Marysville coach Ryan Grose. “We feel that was a game we should have won.”
The Monarchs claimed victory after rallying from a 43-38 deficit two minutes into the fourth quarter.
The Braves held the biggest spread of the game at 12-4 with slightly less than four minutes remaining in the opening period.
The Monarchs fought back to tie it at 15-15 by the end of the stanza on a three-pointer by Christian.
After that, neither team was able to hold a lead of more than a handful of points.
Christian hit a pair of free throws that tied the game at 19-all with 4:13 left until halftime.
Garrett Taylor stretched the Monarchs’ lead to 22-19 when he got an assist from Jason Moore.
Evan Brown later drilled a trifecta that gave the Monarchs a 25-21 margin.
Olentangy’s Ethan Smith responded with a three-ball of his own that closed the score to within 25-24.
Ryan Barlow knocked down a pair of free throws as MHS took a 27-24 lead with 33.9 seconds left until halftime.
Smith, though, scored on the offensive glass after a pair of missed Olentangy shots.
His stickback narrowed the Braves’ deficit to 27-26 at the turn.
Tension grew for fans of both schools as the combatants swapped leads throughout the third quarter.
Christian buried a trifecta for a 30-28 Monarch lead.
That margin was quickly erased with Zach Wieging responded with his own trey for a 31-30 Braves’ edge.
Wieging later hit a jumper that returned a 33-32 edge to the visitors.
Caleb Gossett then stretched the Braves’ lead to 35-32.
Riley Karnes sank a free throw and Kade Focht nailed a big three-ball.
MHS’ 36-35 lead didn’t stay forever as a reverse layup by Tavian James put the Braves up by a 37-36 count.
A couple of charity tosses expanded Olenangy’s lead to 39-36.
Karnes got the ball to Moore on the low block for a shot that narrowed MHS’ gap to 39-38 by the end of the third quarter.
The Braves climbed to their 43-38 spread on a pair of free throws from James.
The Monarchs, who will travel to Olentangy Berlin tonight, refused to surrender.
Christian’s jumper sliced the gap to 43-40.
Evan Brown hit nothing but net on a three-ball that tied the game.
Olentangy regained a 45-43 spread that held briefly until Barlow knotted the score at 45-all.
The Braves went back on top 48-45, only to see Taylor close the gap to 48-47.
Brown came up with another huge trey for a 50-48 Monarch advantage.
Free throws by Olentangy’s Luke Elmore again tied the game at 50 with 1:21 to play.
Taylor broke the stalemate with help from Moore.
Olentangy, though, tied it at 52-all with 20 ticks on the timer.
MHS worked the clock down to 5.3 seconds before calling timeout.
Play resumed before Christian was fouled with less than two seconds on the clock.
He calmly made both free throws for a 54-52 lead.
The Braves then missed a long shot at the horn.
“The key to the game was our defensive intensity,” said Grose. “Olentangy puts a lot of pressure on you with their offense. However, we rebounded well and matched their physicality.”
Marysville
Christian 5-4-17, Taylor 5-0-10, Brown 3-0-9, Barlow 2-2-6, Moore 1-3-5, Focht 1-1-4, Karnes 1-1-3, G. Johnson 0-0-0. Totals 18-11-54.
Three-point goals: Christian 3, Brown 3, Focht 1.
Olentangy
Smith 6-0-14, James 4-4-12, Wieging 4-0-9, Elmore 3-2-8, Gossett 2-4-8, Kennedy 0-1-1, Huskey 0-0-0. Totals 19-11-52.
Three-point goals: Smith 2, Elmore 2, Wieging 1.