HYDRO — The Hydro-Eakly Bobcats basketball team needed overtime to defeat Calumet 54-47 Friday night.
“We started slow,” coach Rick Gore said. “We had several guys step up and make plays. We found a way to win. This is a great win for us and it puts us in the finals of the Washita Valley conference.”
Friday was senior night as well, as Hydro-Eakly has four seniors on the team. Those four seniors are Nolan Gore, Paxton Price, Carson Propps and Kolsen Tharp. All four seniors start as well and have played basketball together since the third grade.
“It was a great win coaching them on senior night,” Gore said. “The four seniors all made plays to help us win. The fourth quarter was great for them too and their experience for sure helped us get the tough win.”
The first quarter went back and forth with scoring early. The game slowed down late in the first quarter and it was tied, 10-10, going into the second quarter.
Hydro-Eakly defended well in the second quarter and built a 17-10 lead. Price hit a shot, as he was driving and threw the ball up when guard. However, Calumet outscored the Bobcats 7-3 at the end of the quarter. Hydro-Eakly had the slight 20-17 advantage.
Hydro-Eakly struggled on offense in the third quarter. Calumet took the lead and the Bobcats only scored seven points. Hydro-Eakly trailed 33-27 going into the fourth quarter.
WIth five minutes left to play, the Bobcats trailed by seven. They outscored Calumet 11-0 in a span of two minutes to take a four-point lead.
Nolan Gore hit a 3-pointer and was fouled. He made the foul shot and Hydro-Eakly was right back in the game, trailing 36-33. Thirty seconds later, Propps tied the game as he made a layup and was fouled, then made the foul shot. Calumet made some plays and was ahead 39-38 with two minutes to play.
“The turning point in the game was when Nolan hit the foul shot on the 3,” coach Gore said. “This really gave us momentum and helped us go on a short run.”
Kolsen Tharp grabbed a rebound, giving Hydro-Eakly the ball back with a minute and a half, down by two. Nolan Gore was fouled with 1:11 left. He made them both, tying the game, 40-40. Neither team was able to score after that point, so the game headed to overtime.
In overtime, Hydro-Eaky took the lead when Nolan Gore hit a pair of free throws, at 44-42. Calumet did not go away, but Propps was fouled and made a layup, making the score 51-44 with 37 seconds to play.
Calumet hit a 3-pointer on the other end, but with two seconds to play, Carter Tharp made a layup, giving Hydro-Eakly a 54-47 win. Nolan Gore scored 28 points and was 10-11 from the free throw line. Price scored 13 points.
“The starters stepped up and played well at the end,” Gore said. “We did not shoot the ball very well, but we played well at the end to win.”
Hydro-Eakly improves to 17-3. They played at Thomas-Fay-Custer Tuesday and will play 8 p.m. Saturday in the Washita Valley Conference Finals at SWOSU against Lookeba-Sickles. Hydro-Eakly beat Lookeba-Sickles earlier this season.
“We are playing really good basketball right now,” Gore said. “We have played such a tough schedule, playing teams like Calumet and Arapaho-Butler, but one thing we can improve on is our defense early in the games. We finish games very well, but sometimes, we do not start games well. We need to start games better and defend better.”