#2 (3A) Crossings tops #7 (2A) Minco in triple overtime thriller

<p>In one of the craziest games of the season, #2 (3A) Crossings Christian beat #7 (2A) Minco 84-75 in triple overtime. While the Knights won by nine, the score was never that close as the lead was under five, for both sides, the entire game.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p>Minco, minus their leading scorer [player_tooltip player_id="1015786" first="Cooper" last="Shirley"], came to play tonight with the perfect gameplay. They wanted to slow the game down. The Bulldogs took their time on offense, not forcing anything. Minco, especially point guard [player_tooltip player_id="1015857" first="Nick" last="Burchfield"], drew defenders in to find wide open shooters in the corner. Nate Davis took advantage of that hitting four three pointers in the first half. Davis would go on to finish the game with 17 points.</p> <p>Crossings couldn’t get much to go in the first half. They looked rattled by the slow pace of the game, but managed to stay within striking distance. [player_tooltip player_id="745387" first="Cooper" last="Gudell"] scored nine first half points and took advantage at the free throw line.</p> <p>In the second half, the game really took off. It was tense from the time the players took the court out of the locker room. In a back-and-forth game, Minco counted on Burchfield and Ethan Ventris. Ventris had 22 points, all in the second half. He was also perfect at the free-throw line. Ventris had three huge third quarter threes. Burchfield ended up with 13 points on the night, but provided so much more than the stat sheet could show.</p> <p>Every time Crossings would make a run or hit a big shot, it was answered by another big shot from Minco. But the Knights were kept in the game because of the effort of Brody Gibbs. Gibbs had multiple big steals and lay-ups, and also converted from the free-throw line. He finished with 12 points in the second half and 17 points on the game.</p> <p>In overtime, both teams were in the double bonus as it was going back and forth at the free-throw line. Burchfield fouled out for the Bulldogs, and Middendorf and Brown fouled out for the Knights. With both teams missing key players in the extended period, other guys continued to step up. Ventriss hit huge free throws for the Bulldogs and the Knights got huge buckets from [player_tooltip player_id="955383" first="Reid" last="Lovelace"] and Gudell. Crossings missed two chances to end the game at the end of regulation and at the end of overtime.</p> <p>In double overtime, it looked like Minco had won the game. They got huge points and rebounds from Lane McKee and Austin Brothers. Those two posts were consistent under the goal and at the free throw line. With five seconds left, Gudell and Lovelace ran screen action at the top of the key which left Gudell open for a split second from way downtown. He nailed it, sending the game into triple overtime. He would finish the game with 25 points.</p> <p>In triple overtime, [player_tooltip player_id="955383" first="Reid" last="Lovelace"] started the period with a deep three and the Knights never looked back. That three pointer by Lovelace also scored him 1,000 points in his high school career.</p> <p>Minco played a gritty, tough game and had some of the best coaching that the state has to offer. They truly played with a next man up mentality and almost got the job done. Crossings stayed within striking distance for the entire second half and made big shots when it counted.</p> <p>These two teams are two of the best teams in their respective classes and it wouldn’t surprise me to see either of them playing late in March.</p> <p>We’re back in action Thursday, as I’ll be covering Cashion @ Dale and again on Friday for Millwood @ Community Christian.</p>