Over the first six games of the boy’s basketball season, the South Harrison Bulldogs had been a generally productive and competitive team, but snake-bitten to say the least. Back-to-back one point losses, the first on a miraculous buzzer-beater by King City on December 8th, then a 52-51 at Maysville on Tuesday, had Kale Watson’s team sitting at 1-5.
The Trenton boys were generally going the opposite direction, especially after a thrilling three-point victory over Princeton to open Grand River Conference play on Tuesday night.
On Friday night, the two rival “Bulldog” schools met in Bethany, with, almost as if on cue, South Harrison locked in yet another battle to the finish.
In a game that saw neither team reach a double-digit lead, South Harrison earned its elusive second win of the season in double overtime, outlasting Trenton, 69-62. The two-pronged scoring attack of Treyton Campbell (27 points) and Cody Weller (23 points) was too much for Trenton to handle, particularly Weller in the late going, as the guard scored 10 points in the two overtimes combined.
Down 43-39 heading into the fourth quarter, Trenton rallied to send the game to overtime tied at 56, with Carson Radcliff, scoring 10 of his 14 points in the fourth. Down three points late in the first overtime, senior guard Hunter Dugan hit the biggest shot of his season to date:
Both overtimes started similarly, with South Harrison building a two-possession lead, but unlike the first overtime, Trenton lacked the firepower in the second overtime for a comeback, with a 3-point play by Weller proving critical for South Harrison in building the lead:
Lathan Croy led Trenton with 23 points with Radcliff at 14, while Kade Ockenfels and Hunter Dugan both scored seven. Radcliff and Dylan Harris both fouled out in the game’s later stages, stressing Trenton’s depth in the second overtime session. Trenton will travel to Gallatin to battle the Bulldogs on Tuesday night at 7:30 on Hot Country Z 101.7, then take on the Maryville Spoofhounds on Friday, December 22nd at 12 noon from the Ketcham Center in Trenton, also on Hot Country Z 101.7. South Harrison, now tied with Trenton at 1-1 in GRC East play, welcomes the Putnam County Midgets to Bethany on Tuesday night.
Other GRC boys scores on Friday night were:
GRC East:
Gallatin 61, Princeton 46
Putnam County 57, Polo 53
Milan 70, Maysville 43
GRC West:
St. Joseph Christian 39, Worth County 24
Stanberry 60, Braymer 59
North Andrew 84, King City 51
Pattonsburg 65, Albany 37