How these seniors carried Jacksonville Routt to 3OT win over Griggsville in regional semi

NEW BERLIN — Jacksonville Routt boys basketball coach Will Whalen said you always want the ball in your seniors’ hands.

The Rockets indeed turned to Isaac Long and Nolan Turner, and the senior duo catapulted the No. 6-seeded Rockets to a thrilling 53-50 triple overtime win over No. 2 Griggsville-Perry in the Class 1A New Berlin Regional semifinals on Wednesday.

Routt (21-11) will meet No. 5 Calvary (24-9) at the Pretzel Dome on Friday at 7 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s regional final. The Saints won the previous postseason meeting 43-37 before advancing to the Sweet 16.

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Long and Turner’s heroics stemmed from key takeaways.

Long first swiped the ball from Lane Lipcaman and lifted the Rockets ahead 41-39 late in the fourth quarter by converting the layup on the fast break while also drawing the foul for a traditional 3-point play.

“We came out of the timeout and we were saying we only have two fouls at the time, and we were trying to be aggressive,” Long said. “The kid crossed over, I just went for it and got it.”

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Teammate Bryson Mossman later assisted to Adam Abell for a 43-40 advantage with 26 seconds left. Lipcaman, though, atoned for his turnover with a game-tying 3 with 9.8 seconds remaining, and Long missed a contested layup before the buzzer.

Turner, not unlike Long, snagged a steal and scooped in the go-ahead layup to begin the third overtime after missing a previous layup attempt in the final seconds of the second OT.

It was pure redemption.

“I didn’t put my head down when that happened,” Turner said. “I just kept playing on D and we got the win.”

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It was a testament to Long and Turner’s intestinal fortitude that they still prevailed despite a couple of excruciating misses.

“It just built fire rather than them feeling sorry for themselves and that’s how you win these close games,” Whalen said. “As good of players as they are, they’re better kids. I’m really happy for them that they get that moment.”

Turner helped preserve the win at the free-throw line. He converted 5 of 6 free throw attempts in the third OT. He scored nine of his 11 points after regulation. Long tallied nine points.

Mossman and Abell had 17 points apiece to lead the Rockets.

“He’s been my best friend for awhile,” Turner said of Long. “He just transferred in last year (from Franklin). We’ve had some struggles. It’s been an up-and-down year, but I think we’re a dangerous team.”

Routt memorably dropped an exhausting 66-61 quadruple overtime game to South County in the Waverly Holiday Tournament in December.

“It becomes more of a mental rather than a physical battle, especially on defense and a team like that,” Long said. “They’re so disciplined they can run an offense for a full overtime. It takes a lot.”

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Griggsville (27-6) had its share of missed chances.

The Tornadoes shot 1 of 6 from the free throw line in the three OT periods. Wyatt Lipcaman, who led the team with 15 points, most notably missed two free throw attempts for the lead with 1.6 seconds left in the first OT, leaving the game tied 47-47.

CALVARY 61, NEW BERLIN 48

Reese Huffman drained the go-ahead 3-pointer early in the first quarter and the Saints dispatched the No. 3 host Pretzels.

Josiah Reynolds knocked down a 3 to regain a two-possesion lead in the second quarter while Huffman followed with another 3 to cap an 8-0 burst.

Huffman drained four 3s for 12 points. Reynolds had two treys himself and finished with eight points.

Joshua Long (seven) and Kaleb Larson (four) also combined for 11 points to help ease the burden for stars Connor Brown and Luke Blackford.

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“We’re playing real well right now, we’re playing as a team,” Calvary coach Tives Gardner said. “We’re getting good ball movement. We’re not depending on our top two guys to do it. It’s got to be a team effort. Even though the young guys made some shots, I thought more importantly we played good defense.”

New Berlin (21-11) started the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run, but Calvary rebounded with a nine-point spurt itself to salt away the Pretzels.

Brown paced the Saints with 18 points while Blackford scored all dozen of his points after the break.

New Berlin seniors Lucas Bixby (18 points) and Gannon Dodd (12 points) concluded their prolific high school basketball careers in double figures. Their achievements included the outright Sangamo Conference title last season.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: How these seniors carried Jacksonville Routt to 3OT win over Griggsville in regional semi