Cedarville Edges West Fork In OT

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

— Cedarville led only briefly in regulation, but the Pirates never trailed in overtime in their 3A-1 West Conference showdown with West Fork on Tuesday night.

Cedarville came up with a pair of key steals in overtime to pull off a 44-40 victory on the road at the Tiger Dome.

The Pirates (17-5, 4-0 3A-1 West) led only at 2-0 and 33-32 midway through the fourth quarter, but Austin Myers drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 38-38 with 1 minute, 6 seconds left in regulation.

Cedarville 44, West Fork 40 (OT)

Cedarville 6 11 9 12 6 — 44

West Fork 11 12 7 8 2 — 40

Cedarville (17-5, 4-0): Parson 17, Myers 13, Bradford 8, E. Fincher 3, C. Fincher 2, Mowrey 1.

West Fork (15-3, 3-1): Ferrell 19, Beasley 10, DeSoto 6, Wingate 5.

After missing a potential game-winner at the buzzer, Cedarville took control in the extra period. Senior Evan Fincher poked the ball away and was fouled on a fast break.

The 5-foot-6 senior hit the first of two free throws to give the Pirates the lead for good. He missed the second, but teammate Zach Bradford grabbed the rebound and fed Garrett Parson for the layup and a 41-38 lead.

Cedarville coach Andrew Tencleve said games between the two teams are always hard-fought and this one was no exception.

“It comes down to which team makes plays,” Tencleve said. “They made plays early and we were able to make some plays late. We’re 3-0 in the league and that’s big since there are only eight conference games.”

West Fork coach David Ferrell said his team made too many mistakes late.

“We have a three-point lead with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter,” Ferrell said. “We missed a free throw and let a 3-point shooter get free.”

Parson led Cedarville with 17 points, while Meyers chipped in 13, including three 3-pointers.

Josh Ferrell finished with a game-high 19 points for West Fork (15-3, 3-1).

Girls

West Fork 49, Cedarville 40

Sydney Franklin helped Lady Tiger fashion a double-digit halftime lead, but the 5-foot-8 senior guard also came up big late to help West Fork hold off a late charge.

Franklin poured in a game-high 25 points, but scored 11 in a 13-4 West Fork second-quarter run to give the Lady Tigers a 22-11 lead.

She later drained a huge 3-pointer from 21 feet to stave off a Cedarville second-half charge. The Lady Pirates shaved a 16-point halftime deficit to seven before Franklin’s four 3-pointer of the game.

Katie Griffin was also in double figures with 19 for West Fork (12-8, 3-1 3A-1 West). Freshman Allie Arnold led Cedarville (6-12, 0-3) with 10 points.