Wins at West Fork aren’t easy to come by.
And the way Cedarville pulled it off on Tuesday isn’t the recommended method.
The Pirates led 2-0. And then had to play catch up the rest of the game. Cedarville led shortly in the early stages of the fourth quarter just to see that lead evaporate again.
But Cedarville was able to force overtime and let its defense take over from there.
“It was a good win,” Cedarville junior Garrett Parson said. “We didn't play very well starting out but we came back. It took a lot of heart and showed some guts coming back.”
Evan Fincher’s steal in overtime led to a trip to the free throw line. Fincher hit the first of two. He missed the second but Parson was there for the put back and that sealed the 44-40 overtime win.
“We made big stop after big stop in overtime and really in the fourth quarter too,” Cedarville coach Andrew Tencleve said. “We were able to put enough balls in the basket to come out on top.”
Parson finished with 17 points while senior Austin Myers added 13 points, mostly doing damage from the outside.
“He's somebody that's made shots for us all year,” Tencleve said of Myers. “He's been struggling lately. We finally got him going in the third quarter but I think he hit four or five and made some big free throws for us late.”
The win was a big one for Cedarville (17-5, 4-0) and puts the target firmly on their back.
“It was obviously big for us. That was our goal coming in, to be 3-0 in conference,” Myers said. “We beat a good team. It's hard to win up here.”