FROSTBURG — Down four with 15 seconds left, Mountain Ridge forced overtime and went on to win 59-55 over Clear Spring on Thursday night.
“That’s an amazing win for us,” Mountain Ridge head coach Tim Nightengale said. “Down four with under a minute to go and somehow we tied it up. We battled to tie it up and in overtime we did what we needed to do to get a win. It could’ve gone either way, I’m glad it went our way.”
The Miners (8-10) won the game despite missing 25 free throws. The Blazers (8-11) led by two with eight seconds left in regulation, but were unable to close out the game.
Trailing 32-26 after three quarters, the Blazers quickly sparked a comeback in the fourth quarter. Dillon Albowicz scored the first five points of the quarter for Clear Spring. He hit a 3-pointer that made it a one-point game with 5:45 left. He scored 11 points in the fourth quarter.
“They made shots, we weren’t making shots,” Nightengale said. “It’s a game where you gotta survive those ebbs and flows of the game.”
Uma Pua’auli stepped up in the fourth quarter with 10 points and assisted on arguably the biggest play of the game.
“They were getting into him and whenever they got into him, he took that as a challenge,” Nightengale said. “He put it back on them and attacked them.”
Down 50-48 with 11.5 seconds left, Pua’auli found Peyton Miller for a layup to tie the game with 6.1 seconds left. The Blazers air balled a jumper and the game went to overtime.
“When you attack the basket, you’re gonna draw a lot of attention,” Nightengale said. “Uma draws a lot of attention because he’s strong and good with the ball. Whenever they jump to it, he made a nice pass to Peyton and Peyton finished it off.”
Owen McGeady started 0 for 6 from 3-point range and did not score in regulation. Up one with 45 seconds left, he hit a floater to extend Mountain Ridge’s lead to 55-52.
“Owen did miss a lot of shots,” Nightengale said. “I talked to him at halftime and said let the game come to you. Late in the game, he made a good baseline cut, defense turned, he hit a little floater. That’s a huge shot for a sophomore to make there.”
Clear Spring immediately committed a turnover, and Tyson Shumaker hit a pair of free throws. He made all six of his free throws in the game.
Down six with 12.4 seconds left, Nate Myers hit a 3-pointer to make it a one score game. Pua’auli inbounded the ball to Miller who drew a foul. He made a free throw to seal it for the Miners.
Mountain Ridge was sloppy to open the game with several missed shots and turnovers. Leading 3-2 with 5:22 left in the first quarter, the Miners went on an 8-4 run to extend their lead to 11-6.
“We went through some dry spells tonight offensively,” Nightengale said. “First quarter wasn’t so bad, started out a little slow but we got some momentum. Second and third quarters we were dry for I don’t know how many possessions.”
Miller scored seven points in the first quarter including a layup off an inbound in the final seconds.
Mountain Ridge held the Blazers to two points in the final 2:46 of the quarter and led 17-8 after one.
“Our defense is good, I’m confident with our defense,” Nightengale said. “I think we can guard most teams we play pretty well.”
The Miners pushed their lead to 24-14 with 3:40 left in the half in what would be their biggest lead of the game. Clear Spring responded and outscored Mountain Ridge 6-3 to end the half as Myers hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to make it a 27-20 game.
The Miners missed a lot of shots in the first half. They were 7 for 18 from 2-point range and 4 for 14 from deep. The missed shots along with four turnovers in the second quarter helped the Blazers cut their deficit.
“We were getting good shots, they just weren’t going in,” Nightengale said. “I felt like we did a lot of standing at times instead of cutting. Clear Spring mixes up their defensive scheme, they keep you on your toes. I felt at time our offense got stagnant, but we’re getting good shots.”
The third quarter was more of a defensive quarter on both sides. The teams combined for 11 points with Mountain Ridge scoring six.
Pua’auli entered the game averaging just under 10 points per game. He was held scoreless in the first three quarters, however, he contributed three assists and a steal.
“I felt like he had a solid game, he did a lot for us rebounding and guarding their best player,” Nightengale said. “I’m confident in Uma’s ability being on the floor. But he took over in the fourth quarter and wanted the ball and attacked the basket with aggressiveness.”
Peyton Miller led all scorers with 15 points while David Miller scored 12. Shumaker scored 11 with four assists and two steals. Pua’auli scored 10 points and had five assists and a steal.
“Tyson was huge, he wanted the ball tonight,” Nightengale said. “When we’re setting up the press break late in the game, he wanted the ball in his hands to make his free throws. When you’re confident like that, you’re gonna knock shots in.”
The Blazers’ Albowicz and Myers each scored 13 points.
The Miners travel to play Broadfording on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Blazers are at Brunswick on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
“They’re a team that’s played a tough schedule, been in all their games,” Nightengale said. “They had Allegany down till Allegany came back. We’ve got a quick turnaround here, we’re hoping to come out and keep stringing these W’s together.”