By ANDREW FEEBACK
CONVERSE — Even though there were about four minutes left, Saturday afternoon’s game between the Norwell Knights and Oak Hill Golden Eagles was over.
Only someone forgot to tell the Knights.
Trailing by 18 after a bucket from Colin Middlesworth gave Oak Hill a 53-35 advantage, Norwell staged an improbable rally to stun the host Eagles, winning in double overtime 66-59.
Head coach Mike McBride was unavailable for comment after the game; assistant coach Jacob Collins expressed appreciation for the team’s willingness to pull back.
“I’m really proud of the guys and the way they fought back in the fourth quarter,” he said. “All the things that were going wrong just flipped.”
Throughout the game, it seemed as if every possible outcome ranging from blowout win to blowout loss was in play for Norwell at some point.
The Knights (2-1) came out hot, knocking down three triples on their way to an early 13-3 lead. The Eagles (1-2) missed seven of their first eight shots, but that began to change once the second quarter got underway.
“We got after it in the first quarter, and our effort level and defense got a little lower in the second quarter,” Collins said. “They had a lot of offensive rebounds, and we turned the ball over a lot.”
Oak Hill used a 14-4 run to take its first lead of the game at 24-23 late in the first half and widened that to 30-25 by the break.
Both teams struggled offensively in the third, with the Eagles connecting on just four field goal attempts while the Knights had just two.
With seven straight points to begin the fourth, Oak Hill stretched its lead to 48-31. A three-pointer from Ryan Lawson made it 51-33 before the teams traded buckets, with Middlesworth’s layup making the score 53-35 with 3:55 to play.
The run began innocuously for Norwell, with Cade Shelton splitting two free throws. The Knights began to pressure the ball full-court to try and speed up the Eagles, who seemed content to just try and run as much time off the clock as they could at that point.
That pressure resulted in eight turnovers by the Eagles in the fourth quarter, and the Knights took full advantage.
Back-to-back triples from Cohen Bailey got the lead down to 11.
It was Norwell’s first three-point make since the game’s opening minutes, and the avalanche was only beginning.
An Eagle turnover was followed by a bucket from Ashton Federspiel, and it was 53-44 with still two minutes left.
Oak Hill managed to keep possession for about 30 seconds but came up empty. Adam McBride, who had yet to score in the game, hit from deep to cut the lead to six.
Another Eagle turnover led to a foul that sent Bailey to the stripe. He missed both shots, but the ball went out of bounds off the Eagles. McBride was fouled on the inbound pass and made both shots.
Oak Hill lost the ball again, and Bailey was fouled on a breakaway. Again, he missed both shots, but Federspiel got the rebound and was immediately grabbed. He made both his attempts, and it was now 53-51 with 26 seconds left.
Yet another giveaway by the Eagles in the backcourt got the ball into the hands of Federspiel, who was fouled as he scored to tie the game.
He missed his free throw, but Bailey rebounded the miss and put it in to give Norwell the lead, 55-53 with 20 seconds to play.
Incredibly, the Knights had come all the way back, scoring 20 straight points in a span of three and a half minutes to go in front.
In a frantic attempt by the Eagles to get the ball up the floor, a foul was called on the Knights, sending freshman guard Jace Tonagel to the line. He made both shots to tie it up, and the teams headed to overtime.
Bailey got the only bucket from either team in the first overtime, which gave Norwell a 57-56 lead after Ty Fagan had made one free throw. Bailey fouled out moments later, but Trenton Sweet made only one of his two shots, leaving the score tied.
Norwell kept the ball for the final two minutes for the last shot, but Owen Wallis’s three-point attempt was off the mark.
Collins felt the decision to go for the last shot with that much time left was largely based on the team’s energy level after fighting back for so long.
“We wasted so much energy getting back into it, that I thought it was a good idea to kind of slow everything down, wait for the last shot, possibly, and get a good look,” he said. “Then, in the second overtime, we really took it to them.”
Norwell started the second overtime with a layup from Shelton. They followed that with two Federspiel free throws. Fagan’s layup made it a two-point game, and he went to the line with 1:10 to play, but missed both shots.
Wallis’s bucket gave the Knights a 63-59 lead with just under a minute left, and Norwell put the game away at the foul line to complete the memorable rally.
“I’m really glad we were able to gain the energy to come back and dominate the second overtime,” Collins said.
Bailey and Federspiel each had 19 points to lead the Knights.
The Eagles got 13 from Levi Trexler, 11 from Tonagel and 10 from Fagan.
Norwell will host Bishop Dwenger Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m.
The Knights took the JV game 45-23. Will Case scored 12 points, Nick McBride had 11 and Brady Smith added eight.
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NORWELL 66,
OAK HILL 59, 2OT
At Oak Hill
NORWELL (2-1): Cade Shelton 3-8 2-6 8, Caiden Petrie 0-0 0-0 0, Garry Riley 0-0 0-0 0, Brady Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Kaedyn Quintanilla 2-5 2-2 6, Adam McBride 1-7 4-4 7, Trace Moser 0-1 2-2 2, Owen Wallis 2-3 0-0 5, Cohen Bailey 7-12 1-6 19, Nick McBride 0-0 0-0 0, Ashton Federspiel 7-13 5-9 19, Ryne Thornton 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 22-49 16-29 66.
OAK HILL (1-2): Colin Middlesworth 4-7 1-3 9, Owen Middlesworth 0-0 0-0 0, RJ Shugart 3-8 0-0 9, Jace Tonagel 3-12 4-4 11, Trenton Sweet 1-5 1-2 4, Luke Elzinga 0-0 0-0 0, Levi Trexler 5-11 0-0 13, Ryan Lawson 1-4 0-0 3, Landon Cruzan 0-0 0-0 0, Luke Dubois 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson Lamb 0-2 0-0 0, Ty Fagan 4-5 2-2 10. TOTALS: 21-54 8-14 59.
Norwell 17 8 6 24 2 9 — 66
Oak Hill 8 22 11 14 2 2 — 59
Three-point Goals: Norwell 6-19 (Bailey 4-8, Wallis 1-2, Adam McBride 1-6, Quintanilla 0-2, Shelton 0-1), Oak Hill 9-29 (Shugart 3-7, Trexler 3-7, Lawson 1-3, Tonagel 1-6, Sweet 1-4, Colin Middlesworth 0-2). Rebounds: Norwell 34 (Shelton 14, Federspiel 10, Bailey 5, Adam McBride 3, Wallis 1, Quintanilla 1), Oak Hill 20 (Fagan 5, Tonagel 3, Lawson 3, Sweet 3, Colin Middlesworth 2, Trexler 2, Shugart 1, Lamb 1). Turnovers: Norwell 17, Oak Hill 12. Fouls: Norwell 17, Oak Hill 19. Fouled out: Bailey, Trexler, Fagan. Technicals: None.
JV: Norwell 45, Oak Hill 23.
