Boys Basketball: Andrean needs overtime to beat West Side

Updated: February 14, 2012 10:17PM

GARY — They needed an extra period, but the 59ers keep on winning.

Andrean tallied its 16th win of the season and its 11th in a row with a 75-67 overtime victory at West Side.

“Playing West Side on the road at the end of the year is always tough,” said Andrean (16-1) coach Carson Cunningham. “Our schools have had some good battles. They hit some big shots and they had a good gameplan. You’re going to face adversity sometimes on the road, and our guys kept grinding; they stuck to the plan.”

Tied at 62 after regulation, Andrean outscored West Side (6-8) 13-5 in the extra period to put the game away. The game’s finale was far less dramatic than the final four minutes of the fourth quarter.

Trailing 59-53 with about four minutes left, Andrean switched to a full-court press in hopes of jumping back into the game. The plan worked to perfection, as the 59ers quickly forced a few turnovers and, in a span of two minutes, turned a six-point deficit into a three-point lead.

“It worked out well,” Cunningham said. “Our guys communicated and they rotated well. The biggest thing with this whole game was our guys maintaining the right approach and the right attitude, even when they were facing tough times.”

A trey from West Side’s Curtis Lee tied the game at 62 with 1:30 remaining in regulation. On their next possession, Andrean held the ball near midcourt without a challenge from West Side, running over a minute off of the clock. With 10 seconds left, Andrean’s Nick Davidson pulled up for a 15-footer that was off the mark, and Cougars’ forward Regan Atkins came down with the rebound. Following a West Side timeout with 4.3 seconds left, Rashaad Armstrong’s 3-point attempt was short, sending the game into overtime.

West Side arrived ready for the role of spoiler, jumping out to a 22-10 lead after the first quarter, thanks in large part to 12 points from Rashaad Armstrong in the game’s first eight minutes.

Andrean stormed back in the second quarter with a 14-2 run, capped by a pair of Sam Toporski 3s that tied the game at 24. Josh James added eight more points for Andrean in the second, which ended in a 28-28 deadlock.

The two teams traded runs in the third quarter, and after three West Side held a slim 50-47 lead, setting up the dramatics of the final two periods.

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