ALLEN — Northern Heights coach Lanny Massey called it snakebit.
Twice on Friday night, it looked like Northern Heights had the game won — barring a miraculous shot by Lyndon.
Lyndon made the miraculous shot, twice, and went on to win 79-72 in triple overtime.
“I knew we had them, but I’ve got to give them props,” NHHS guard Roman Murray said. “They hit the clutch shots that they had to. In games like this, no team likes to lose, no team deserves to lose, but someone has to, and unfortunately tonight it’s us.”
The Wildcats lost despite leading for most of regulation. They led by eight with just over two minutes left, but turnovers and two missed free throws gave Lyndon a chance to tie and force overtime. Down three with 16 seconds remaining, Lyndon took a timeout to try to set up a play to tie the game.
Lyndon point guard Curtis Wendling dribbled out the final seconds, trying to get the ball to Derek Banzaf, who scored a game-high 31, but Heights had Banzaf blanketed. Wendling was forced to take a contested 23-footer, which banked off the glass and in at the buzzer.
The first overtime, like regulation, was sloppy with turnovers and traveling calls. The two teams combined for seven turnovers in the first OT and four travels. It was the final travel of the first OT that appeared to set up Heights to win the game. With the game tied at 53 and Lyndon holding for the final shot, Banzaf, who was not being pressured, was whistled for traveling near midcourt with 12 seconds left.
Heights called timeout and set up a play for Murray. Murray found an opening in the Lyndon defense and drove to the basket, drawing a foul. He calmly made both free throws to give the Wildcats a 55-53 lead.
“Throughout the game, my shot wasn’t going in very well,” Murray said. “But I knew that good shooters keep shooting from what my coach tells me. When my team needs me the most, I’ll come through for them. I just practice too much to not make them.”
Lyndon rushed the ball up the court following Murray’s free throws and called timeout with three seconds left.
Heights came out of the timeout in a 2-3 zone, and Lyndon’s Shea Kirsop was able to find an opening near the right elbow for another game-tying buzzer-beater.
“I thought we had it at that point in time,” Massey said. “It seems like we’ve been snakebit on three-second shots in the past. Olpe got us two years ago; Council Grove got us two years ago; Lyndon got us tonight in the end.”
Lyndon rode the momentum of the buzzer-beater into the second OT with Banzaf scoring the opening basket off a steal. Lyndon had a three-point lead when Murray scored Heights’ first basket with 2:22 left, a 23-foot 3-pointer that tied the game.
Murray scored a team-high 21 points, and 12 of his points came in the fourth quarter and first two overtimes.
“Roman did a great job of putting us on his back for a while,” Massey said.
But following his 3-pointer, an overanxious Murray fouled out on a reach-in near midcourt with 2:13 remaining in the second OT.
“I kind of felt that I let my team down by fouling out,” Murray said, “but I gave it my all.”
Even without Murray, who had been the focal point of the offense down the stretch, Heights managed to have the ball with a chance to win on the final possession. But the Wildcats did not have a last-second shot in them and Kenneth Bronson’s buzzer-beater missed, forcing a third overtime.
The Tigers started the third OT on an 8-0 run, and without Murray and eventually without starting guards Teeino Tabares and Nick Tabares, who also fouled out, the Wildcats did not have an answer.
“When you start losing Teeino handling the ball, you’ve got Roman with experience, Nick knocking down some shots losing him, we’re pulling from the bench,” said Bronson, who had to move from the post to point guard in the third OT. “Those kids did a good job and you can’t expect them to do a lot of what a senior guard can do.”
Lyndon made 13-of-22 free throws in the final OT and gave the Wildcats their second straight loss. The two teams are not scheduled to play again this season, but with the Flint Hills League tournament next week, they could meet up again.
“I think if we go at it again, and keep the players on the court instead of fouling out ... I think we can get them next time,” Murray said. “I’m confident we can.”
Friday at Northern Heights
Lyndon 9 14 9 17 6 4 19 — 79
NHHS 14 12 8 15 6 4 12 — 70
Lyndon (4-5, 3-4) — Kirsop 15, Banzaf 31, Brown 12, Spencer 9, Wendling 12.
Northern Heights (5-4, 4-3) — T. Tabares 3, Campbell 6, Swanson 8, Murray 21, Swanson 5, Bronson 12, Heins 2, N. Tabares 15.