GRANVILLE, Ohio -- Going into Wednesday’s matchup with Johnstown (7-2), Granville (8-2) knew that they would have to dig deep on defense if they were going to keep up with the Licking County League’s leading scorer in Owen Hazelbaker. The senior, a skilled 6-foot-7 post, was five inches taller than the man guarding him, fellow senior and do-it-all forward Cam Crouch.

Such a size difference would usually be a concern for pretty much any other team attempting to get in Hazelbaker’s way, but not for Crouch. Before the game, Crouch was confident in his matchup with Hazelbaker, even going as far to say that he would, and I quote, “hold Hazelbaker to six points or less.” Hazelbaker hadn’t scored less than 10 in a game for the Johnnies all year.

On Wednesday, he scored six.

This incredible defensive performance by Crouch, coupled with a crazy buzzer-beater by teammate Brody Ley to force overtime as well as clutch free-throw shooting by the Aces down the stretch carried Granville to a 35-32 victory in double overtime. This low-scoring match up was close throughout and was a display of great defense by both teams, a trait that we’ve become so familiar with this season in the LCL.

The game started off incredibly slow on the offensive end, as Granville set the tone early with a minute and a half long possession to open the game. With both squads taking their time to get a decent look against the other’s stingy defense, the score at the end of the first was 6-5 in favor of the Blue Aces.

The second quarter saw much of the same type of action with Hazelbaker’s back-to-the-basket game being completely shut down by the Aces. He was still productive on the glass and had a key offensive board that led to a kick-out to fellow senior Caden Calhoun for a three-pointer which put the Johnnies up at that point. However, after another low-scoring stretch, Crouch broke the ice for the Blue Aces at the halftime buzzer with a smooth pull-up jumper and put Granville ahead 14-12.

After some halftime adjustments, one thing that didn’t change was the pace of scoring, which remained slow as the second half began. The Granville attack completely stalled as the third quarter rolled along and they allowed the Johnnies to take the lead and keep it until the end of the period, taking a 23-21 lead into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter, though again low-scoring, was an exciting stretch of the game that was capped off by a remarkable shot to end regulation. The Johnnies led most of the fourth with the score keeping strong at 27-26 Johnstown for the vast majority of the time.

While Granville had a few chances to take the lead inside two minutes, they could not capitalize, and Calhoun went  to the line for a one and one with 12 seconds left. After missing the front end, sophomore Jake Lusk came up with a clutch offensive rebound and kicked it out to junior Matt Sayer, who was subsequently fouled and would again send the Johnnies to the line.

Sayer made both, and with 5.6 seconds left on the clock and the Blue Aces having to take the ball out at full court down three points, Granville’s hopes for winning seemed slim. However, this game was far from over.

Sophomore Will Skerbetz took the ball out after the made free-throw and, after scanning the floor, passed it to the open Brody Ley at around the Johnstown three-point line. With time ticking down, Ley decided to take the game into his own hands. After catching the ball, Ley dribbled up the floor and, at a spot just behind the volleyball line, about 35 feet from the basket, pulled up for the potential game-tying shot with just enough space to get his shot off.

The ball hit nothing but the bottom of the net, and Ley’s heroics improbably tied the game at 29-29 and sent this one into overtime.

The four minute overtime period would see the same offensive game plan and defensive toughness be utilized by both teams.

Around a minute into overtime, Granville junior Brody Bitters skied for an offensive rebound and made an athletic move for a reverse lay-in and scored the first points of the overtime for both teams. However, Lusk dropped in a soft hook shot soon after off of a designed side out-of-bounds play and tied the game at 31, the score that kept for the entire period and sent the game to double overtime.

Double overtime was the Aces turn to be out in front of the foul-game; that being said, the game remained within a single possession the whole way. The period wouldn’t see a score until Jake Stone made two clutch free-throws with 40 seconds left.

On the ensuing Johnnies possession, Hazelbaker was  fouled and go to the line for two, but the second shot came up short, and the Aces kept the lead at 33-32. Stone was again fouled and hit both of his next shots, stretching the lead to three at 35-32.

Johnstown missed various contested looks to close out the game and 35-32 is the score that remained in the huge home victory for the Aces over a Johnnies program that has had their number, and most of the league’s for that matter, over the last few years.

Johnstown had a hard time finding consistent scoring help with Hazelbaker being taken out of the picture, as no teammate scored in double digits for the Johnnies either. They were led by junior Matt Sayer and the sophomore Lusk with seven points and six rebounds each. Hazelbaker was held to six points but added 11 rebounds, and Calhoun chipped in six points of his own on two threes. Johnstown falls to 8-2 on the year with the loss.

The Aces were led by the junior Stone who had 12 points to go with four steals. Sophomore Will Skerbetz followed with seven points, and junior Brody Bitters finished with six points and seven boards. Crouch chipped in four points and four rebounds to go along with his stellar interior defense. The Aces climb to 8-2 on the season and add a key win to their resume.