The fans rushed the court two times in the Patrick Henry gym during the much-anticipated showdown between the Western Valley Disdtrict frontrunners.
Only the second time mattered.
In a seesaw, emotion-filled game played out on the Woody Deans Court, PH fought off three technical fouls, a waived off shot by Danville declared just late at the end of regulation, and a quick 5-point deficit to start overtime, as the Patriots pulled out the 87-85 win to take sole possession of first place in the Western Valley District and hand the Eagles their first loss of the season.
“Our team was cool as a cucumber,” Patrick Henry head coach Jack Esworthy noted in the Patriot locker room afterward. “It was a team win and everyone stepped up.”
For PH, it looked like they had pushed the envelope once too many times with 23 seconds left in regulation.
Cortez Ogden had just connected from behind the arc to cut a 78-74 Danville lead to one, 78-77. As the Eagles brought the ball upcourt, Tre Terry was called for a foul, which led to a comment to the ref that quickly drew a technical.
Suddenly, GW had a one-and-one, two technical foul shots and possession, providing everything they needed to put the game away. Instead they missed the front end of the bonus, and although making the two technicals, missed on the subsequent shot, allowing PH a final chance down three.
Marcus Banks rose to the occasion, hitting a bomb to tie things at 80.
“If you’re in that situation ten times, I’m not sure how many times you get out of it- maybe one?” Esworthy asked.
GW had an inbounds play under their basket with :00.7 left. The pass went deep to the right side and when the hurried three-pointer by GW’s Ahmad Thomas found nothing but net, Eagle fans, players and coaches swarmed the court. But, the refs immediately waived off the shot as being late, while as the PH courtside announcer bellowed “please remain in your seats, the game is not over- we’re going to overtime.”
Danville seemed unfazed by the setback, quickly scoring the first five points of overtime on a Tamario Rodgers 3-pointer followed by a breakaway slam dunk by Thomas.
Back came the Patriots for the game’s final seven points, including Banks’ fifth trey of the game that tied things at 85 and the winning shot by Austin Donithan on a close jumper.
“We talked all day,” Esworthy added. “The team that was toughest mentally would come out on top. The technicals were a problem and didn’t go our way. The final shot in regulation was waived off immediately; you need those to go your way.”
Banks led the Patriot scoring with a game-high 29 points, including five shots from behind the arc. Christian Kirchman added 22 and Donithan 14 points for PH.
by Bill Turner
