Bizarro Basketball

By Editor | December 22, 2010 |

ST. ELMO – It was a game 70 hours in the making – and even that wasn’t long enough.

Brownstown senior Zach Rigdon shot a 3-pointer with approximately two-tenths of a second left in regulation to tie the game at 37, but South Central won 56-51 in triple overtime, finishing off a game that had three times been postponed.

The game, a first-round contest in the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament, began at 7:30 p.m. last Tuesday, but it was suspended with 3:34 left in the fourth quarter because of a power outage, and then postponed on both Wednesday and Thursday due to inclement weather.

By game’s end, it had taken just more than 71 hours to complete.

“It would have been nice if it had been settled in that 3:34,” said South Central coach Rick Simmons, “but give credit to (Rigdon) from Brownstown; that was a pretty incredible shot.”

In the first overtime period, South Central sophomore Fischer Tharp made a bucket with 10.4 seconds left to give the Cougars a 41-40 lead, but Brownstown senior Bryce Mason was fouled with 2.5 seconds on the clock, splitting his free throws to force a second overtime.

Rigdon made a basket with 51 seconds left to give the Bombers a 45-43 lead in the second overtime, but Tharp scored again, with 31 seconds remaining, tying the score once more.

“They weren’t going to quit and we weren’t going to quit, and it turned into one heck of a ballgame,” Simmons said.

South Central was finally able to take control in the third extra period, scoring 10 points in the first three minutes to take an insurmountable 55-45 lead.

The Bombers tried to make a comeback, scoring six points in the final minute, but half of those came on a Mason 3-pointer with five seconds left.

“We talked before the game how it was going to be awkward,” said Brownstown coach Vince Rohr. “I think they had a little bit more in the tank than we did.”

Timeline:

A first-round game in the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament between South Central and Brownstown took approximately 71 hours to finish. Below is the sequence of events that led to the unlikely outcome:

Tuesday, Dec. 14 at 8:41 p.m.
Power is lost in the city of St. Elmo because of a traffic accident near Altamont, halting play with 3:34 left in the fourth quarter. South Central trailed 27-26 and had possession at the time of the outage.

Tuesday, Dec. 14 at 9:05 p.m.
St. Elmo Holiday Tournament officials decide to suspend the game until Wednesday night at 9 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 15
An impending ice storm postpones the game until Thursday at 5:45 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 16
Inclement weather postpones all scheduled tournament games, moving the game to Friday at 5:45 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 17
0:00.2 left in regulation
Brownstown senior Zach Rigdon shoots a 3-pointer to tie the score at 37 to push the game into overtime.

Friday, Dec. 17
0:02.5 left in overtime
Brownstown senior Bryce Mason sinks the second of two free throws to tie the game at 41 to push the game into a second overtime.

Friday, Dec. 17
0:31 left in the second overtime
South Central sophomore Fischer Tharp makes a bucket to tie the game at 45. Neither team would score again, forcing a third overtime.

Friday, Dec. 17
1:07 left in the third overtime
Tharp connects on two free throws to give South Central a 55-45 lead, effectively sealing the 56-51 Cougar victory.