Depending on a lot of composure and a little luck at the end of an overtime game, the Thunder Mountain High School boys basketball team squeaked out a second win against visiting Colony on Saturday.
After a wild fourth and a nervous extra frame, the scoreboard read 50-48 in TMHS’ favor.
“We tried to get a few defensive stops and play the smartest offense we could,” Falcons leading scorer Noah Reishus-O’Brien said of the overtime period. “We tried to finish it off as best we can; keep our composure.”
The Falcons led until the fourth quarter when Colony instituted a full-court press and stole momentum back, forcing three turnovers in two minutes to close a 5-point gap. It didn’t help that the Falcons — who were getting open looks from the perimeter the entire game — weren’t hitting down the stretch.
“It was a little bit sketchy, we played a good game, but our shots just weren’t falling our way,” Falcons guard Chase Saviers said.
Guard Chase Saviers opened up extra time with one of his trademark scoop shot layups, giving the Falcons a 47-45 lead in the first minute of the four-minute OT. Knights leading scorer Sullivan Menard (16 points) answered the Falcons’ team captain with a 3-point bucket from the top of the key to give Colony only their second lead of the night.
On the Falcons’ following possession, guard McAndrews got fouled driving the lane. McAndrews played hero by hitting both of his free throws with just a minute to go. Neither team was able to score on a pair of possessions and a desperation heave at the buzzer from Colony’s Nolan Martin wouldn’t fall to close scoring.
Reishus O’Brien scored 17 to lead the Falcons. Saviers added 14.
Colony was led by Sullivan Menard with 16. No other Knight scored in double digits.
TMHS coach John Blasco said getting his players experience in tight games is crucial to developing resiliency. Playing without senior starter Riley Olsen, Vaipuna Toutaiolepo and Garth Tupou both logged big minutes.
Tupou had a big and-1 play in the fourth. Toutaiolepo, a sophomore, struggled a bit at the line to close the game, missing both of his double bonus shots to leave Colony a chance to tie, but Toutaiolepo came up with a couple big rebounds in the closing minutes to make up for it.
“You saw how happy he when that one fell in,” Blasco said, referencing Toutaiolepo’s first free throw make on the night (he went 3-6). “He’s a sophomore, so it’s a great time for him to get exposure. I’ve got all the confidence in the world in that kid. Hopefully next time he knocks them down and we have a bigger lead.”
Colony coach Tom Berg, also playing without a starter, said he “hasn’t had a problem” with his team’s effort all year and was proud of how his young squad responded to the nerve-wracking scoreline.
Berg, like Blasco, was glad his team got some experience in an overtime game.
“You’re going to play in them eventually,” he said. “So you hope you had some experience. You want to win them, I kept looking up, seeing us down 3, down 5, down 1, down 3, down 5, down 1, so I wondered if we were ever going to get over the hump. For us to do that, then you kind of want to reward the grind by getting it done, but so do they. They have good senior leadership and got it done.”
Thunder Mountain heads into next weekend at an even .500 (6-6) to host Mt. Edgecumbe High School for games Friday and Saturday.
FALCONS 50, KNIGHTS 48
Thunder Mountain 14 13 11 7 5 —50
Colony 5 14 13 13 3 —48
Thunder Mountain (50)— Reishus-O’Brien 17, Saviers 14, McAndrews 8, V. Toutaiolepo 5, Tupou 4, Storie 2
Colony (48)— Menard 16, Martin 9, Villastrigo 7, Kizer 6, Neuner 5, Pead 2, Oathout 2, Baker 1
Free throws — Thunder Mountain 13-22, Colony 14-24
3-point goals — Thunder Mountain 1, Colony 2
Team fouls — Thunder Mountain 17, Colony 22
