It wasn't the prettiest of wins, but first-year Lincoln-Sudbury boys basketball coach Patrick Callahan will take it.
His team turned the ball over 40 times and went 6-for-16 from the foul line, but senior forward Brandon Huntowski's layup with six seconds left in the second overtime proved to be the deciding basket as the Warriors squeaked out a 62-60 win over Concord-Carlisle in a wild Dual County League contest.
As pleased as Callahan was to get the win, he was also quick to give his opponents the credit they deserved.
"I'm definitely happy with the win, but I do feel for Concord-Carlisle," said Callahan. "Those kids played a heck of a basketball game. They did exactly what they should do against us, which is pressure us and, pressure kills. They are not a bad basketball team and they're still winless, which is a travesty.
"They've got some heart and some guts, so I've got to give it to them."
In the second overtime, a layup by 6-foot-10 Warrior center John Swords put L-S up 60-57 with 44 seconds left, but C-C's Drew Vanasse tied the game when he banked in a 3-pointer with 19 seconds left.
On the Warriors' ensuing possession, they tried to get the ball to Swords but he mishandled the pass. Luckily for them, it ended up with Huntowski, who made the layup and got fouled but missed the free throw.
The Patriots couldn't get a shot off in the last six seconds, thus ending a game that had 26 traveling calls and 74 combined turnovers.
"John bobbled it, I got it, and just went up with it," Huntowski said of his deciding bucket. "I didn't really think about the free throw and then (I missed it). At that point, I thought about it a little more, but it all worked out in the end."
The first overtime saw C-C take a 55-53 lead on an Obie Bonsu layup with 21 seconds left after L-S had turned the ball over, but the Warriors tied it eight seconds later on a layup by sophomore forward Ben Lawhorn (11 points). All of this, though, came after the Patriots were called for charging (L-S took four charges) with 39 seconds left.
"Taking charges is a big part of defense, especially our help defense," said L-S senior guard Dan Birtwell, who had a team-high 22 points, including 5-for-6 from behind the arc. "Getting a body in front of a guy when he doesn't necessarily see you coming is a good way to take the charge and change the momentum and push things in our favor."
In the fourth quarter, a 3-pointer by C-C's Edwin Delva tied the game at 50-50 with 37 seconds left. A foul was also called, but it was deemed to have occurred after the basket, which gave possession to the Patriots. On that possession, C-C was called for a shot clock violation, which gave the ball back to L-S with seven seconds left, but Swords missed a jumper as time expired.
The Warriors built a six-point lead in the third quarter, but the Patriots closed out the quarter on a 10-2 run, capped by a Delva 3-pointer off glass, to take a 39-37 lead heading into the fourth.
The first half was relatively sloppy, as both teams had reached 10 turnovers early in the second quarter. Down by seven with 1:11 left in the half, Birtwell went on a 9-0 run by himself, which included a four-point play to get L-S within one and a 3-pointer from the corner with two seconds left to give his team its only lead of the half at 26-24.
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/sports/local_sports/x1530315283/Lincoln-Sudbury-62-Concord-Carlisle-60-Huntowksi-layup-ends-wild-night
