For The Tribune
BROWNSTOWN
Jake Harley’s free throw with 1.4 seconds left in overtime gave North Harrison a 52-51 win against Brownstown Central on the Braves floor Friday night.
The Braves held a 33-25 lead in the Mid Southern Conference game going into the fourth quarter and remained ahead until Max Flock made a 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining to tie the game at 44-44: the only time it was tied in regulation.
The Braves were called for an offensive foul on their next possession, but the Cougars were unable to get off a shot before time expired.
At the start of the overtime, the Cougars held leads of 46-44, 48-47, and 51-49 before Michael Boshears made a layup to tie the game at 51-51 with 10 seconds left.
A loose-ball foul was called on the Braves to set up Harley’s game winning free throw.
“I told the guys after the game that we’ve got to control what we can control,” Braves coach Dave Benter said. “Two things we didn’t control were our defensive rebounding and our turnovers. We got to take better care of the basketball. Defensive rebounding has been our strength for most of the year. We were up nine and they were completely lifeless. Even though we had trouble scoring the ball, we were still in position where we can’t lose that basketball game.
“We had a technical foul, we missed a blockout, we get buried under a 3-point shooter and all of a sudden they were starting to get more energy.”
The Braves gave up nine offensive rebounds.
The Braves ended up shooting 18-for-33 and the Cougars 18-for-51. Braves made 10 of 13 free throws and the Cougars hit 13 of 23.
The Braves jumped out to an 8-0 lead, went cold the remainder of the first period, then turned it on in the second quarter to take a 26-17 lead at the half.
Cameron Luedeman opened the scoring at the start of the game with a 3-point basket, Seth Borden added two field goals, and Boshears added a free throw for an 8-0 lead at 5:15.
The Braves missed some shots and had three turnovers and that allowed the Cougars to close the gap to 8-6 at the end of the period.
Isaiah Wineinger opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer and Luedeman added two 3-pointers to lead the Braves to a 9-point lead at the break.
The Braves were up 31-21 following a 3-point basket by Caleb Bollinger midway through the third quarter.
The Cougars went on a 6-0 run before Luedeman made a basket in the closing seconds of the quarter to give the Braves a 33-25 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Luedeman topped the Braves (4-1,2-1 MSC) with 16 points.
North Harrison (3-3, 2-1 MSC) had a balanced attack as Jake Book scored 12, Braden Jenkins with 11, and Flock 10 points.
The loss snapped a 16-game win streak for the Braves against the Cougars. North Harrison now also claims the John Harrell Mythical Traveling Trophy, which the Braves took from Salem in the first game of the season before holding onto it for the next three games.
The Braves will host Mitchell tonight.