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Grind It Out: Pickerington Central survives in triple overtime to pick up a huge road win against bitter rival Pickerington North

By Jake Spegal, 01/17/20, 11:59PM EST

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Conner Maciag and Garner Wallace each score 19 points to lead the Tigers

PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- Heading into Friday night's matchup against arch rival Pickerington North (11-4), Pickerington Central (9-4) had a bitter taste in their mouth after getting thoroughly handled by the Panthers on their home court a month ago.

Making some huge plays down the stretch, answering some big Pickerington North runs and playing as tough as nails, the Tigers picked up a thrilling win in triple overtime, defeating the Panthers 65-63.

Racing out to a 12-2 lead behind some tough buckets from Conner Maciag and Garner Wallace, Pickerington Central had all of the momentum early after a big and-one from Wallace as they also got some extremely tough interior defense from ​​​​​​​Elhadji Thiam and Sonny Styles.

Ending the quarter on a quick 6-2 run, Pickerington North headed into the second with the momentum that they needed as ​​​​​​​Casey George finished a tough lay-in just before the buzzer following a big block on the other end to trim the deficit to 14-8 after one.

Capping off an 8-0 run for the Panthers, senior ​​​​​​​Hunter Shedenhelm knocked down a triple from the wing to give them their first lead of the game, ahead 21-20 with a few minutes left to play in the second.

Storming back and regaining all of the momentum, Pickerington Central used a 7-0 run to go ahead 27-21 late in the frame before a tough finish from​​​​​​​ Chris Scott cut their lead to 27-23 at the break.

After a tough putback from Styles followed up by a mid-range jumper from ​​​​​​​Tahleik Walker, Pickerington Central forced a Pickerington North timeout as they got off to a quick start to the second half and led 31-23 with 7:13 left in the third.

Refusing to give the Tigers a shot to run away with it, Pickerington North used a 10-2 run capped off by a tough and-one from Scott to tie it at 33 with 4:21 left in the quarter.

Wallace then picked up his third foul shortly after as he was forced to check out for the Tigers with 3:37 to go in the third.

Increasing their run to 16-2, Pickerington North claimed a 39-33 lead with a couple of minutes left in the quarter and seemed to have everything going in their favor with Wallace on the bench as well.

Refusing to give in, Pickerington Central used a few tough buckets in transition to trim the deficit to 42-41 before Scott converted inside right at the buzzer to help Pickerington North take a 44-41 lead into the final quarter.

Opening up the fourth on a 5-0 run, Maciag converted a tough and-one followed up by a floater from Wallace to give Pickerington Central all of the momentum and a 46-44 lead with 7:07 to go.

With the two squads dogging it out for the next four minutes, it stayed a two point game until Walker scored a tough bucket inside to give to the Tigers a 53-49 with 1:49 left to play.

Scott then answered this with a score of his own and Pickerington North burned a timeout trailing 53-51 with 1:31 to go.

Despite Pickerington Central having the opportunity to dribble some time off the clock in order to force the Panthers to foul, George came up with a phenomenal steal in recovery, sprinting all the way back in transition and jumping in the passing lanes to give Pickerington North a shot down 53-51 with 45 seconds to go.

Scott was then fouled on a loose ball, knocked down both free throws and tied the game at 53 with 16.6 seconds to go.

After Thiam missed a good look near the rim with less than five seconds left, Pickerington North didn't have time to get a shot off and sent the game to overtime tied at 53.

Giving the Panthers a huge momentum swing, Scott finished off a tough and-one to put them ahead 56-55 with 2:05 left in the extra period.

He and Dior Conners then each hit one shot at the line to push the lead to 58-55 with 35.4 seconds to go.

Hitting the biggest shot of his life so far, Maciag grabbed an offensive rebound for Pickerington Central and hit a TOUGH three while falling away in the corner to tie the game at 58 and force a Pickerington North timeout with 17.8 seconds left.

Scott then failed to convert inside, sending the game to double overtime tied at 58-58.

The theme of the second overtime was defense as both squads mustered just two points in the frame.

Holding the ball for over a minute in order to take the last shot, Pickerington North failed to convert again as Scott couldn't finish inside and ​​​​​​​Savion Marshall-Hamilton's putback attempt came just after the buzzer, sending this one into triple overtime tied at 60.

Wallace opened up the third extra period with an and-one to ignite the crowd as they led 62-60 after he missed the free throw, but Styles blew the gym up after this with a huge transition slam followed by a block from Thiam as the Tigers claimed a 64-60 lead with 1:40 left to play.

While Pickerington Central had possession while leading 65-63 with 28.2 seconds to go, Marshall-Hamilton came up with a huge steal off the inbound to give the Panthers one more shot.

After Shedenhelm missed a three from the top of the key while coming off of a screen, the Tiger faithful erupted as they held on to win an instant classic.

The home team has now lost the last four matchups in the Battle of Pickerington, as Pickerington North took down the Tigers on their homeport earlier this year.

Wallace and Maciag each led Pickerington Central with 19 points a piece, while Walker added 12 in the win.

They move to 9-4 and will take on Dream City Christian (AZ) on Sunday at the Flyin’ to the Hoop Classic at Kettering Fairmont.

For Pickerington North, Scott scored a game-high 24 points to lead the way. Shedenhelm and George each scored 15 a piece, while no other player tallied more than four points for the Panthers. 

They fall to 11-4 after the loss and will take on Milton (GA) at the Flyin’ to the Hoop Classic at Kettering Fairmont tomorrow.


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