The Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) Elecs needed extra time to capture their third straight McLeod Series championship.
The Elecs senior boys basketball team beat the Weyburn Comprehensive School (WCS) Eagles 11-7 in overtime at ECS on Wednesday night to help the school cliam the 82nd annual McLeod Series. The Eagles senior boys forced the extra frame by draining two long threes, courtesy of Spencer Anderson and Earl Pineda, in the final eight seconds of the game to give them a 76-68 victory.
The eight-point WCS win tied the four-game total-point series between the Eagles and Elecs senior boys and girls squads at two wins and 276 points each.
Elecs forward Carter Davenport got his side on the board first in OT by notching two foul shots only to have Pineda reply shortly with a drive to the basket and layup. Wyatt Haux then put ECS up 5-2 on a three down the middle before Jack McGeough hit two foul shots to give the Elecs a five-point lead.
Pineda made it 7-4 with a jumper in the paint only to have McGeough restore the advantage by hauling down an offensive rebound and score on the second chance. Tristan Sharp got the deficit to four on a foul shot before hitting a reverse layup to put his squad within two with 13 seconds left. An Eagles turnover on their next possession gave the Elecs the ball forcing WCS to foul, which allowed Haux to put the extra-time match out of reach at 11-7.
The Eagles held the advantage throughout regulation time putting up a 21-18 score after the first quarter and a 35-33 lead at the half. Knowing the club needed eight points to tie, WCS came out strong in the third period holding a nine-point advantage at one point before the Elecs battled back to within four at 51-47 heading into the final frame. Both teams went back and fourth to the thunderous cheers of a packed gym at ECS that had fans pouring out of the stands and lining the sides of the court with the two late threes by Weyburn providing perhaps the loudest moment for an away throng of supporters and the quietest for the home side.
The Elecs senior girls began the second and final round of the McLeod Series by beating the Eagles 68-54. Estevan came out strong holding a 13-3 lead at one point before Weyburn found their game and fought back to make the score 15-13 a little over halfway through the first quarter. Elecs guard Tatiana Dutka then hit two foul shots to give Estevan a 17-13 advantage before forward Kourtney Kobitz drained a three from the near the sidelines to put the score at 20-13.
Dutka finished off the quarter with an offensive rebound and layup to give ECS a 24-14 lead heading into the second period where everything seemed fall Estevan's way. The Elecs rode into halftime with a 40-24 lead, which they increased to 56-39 after three quarters. The Eagles fought hard in the fourth stanza, but the deficit proved too hard to overcome.
The regulation time wins between the teams is the opposite of what happened a week earlier at WCS where the Eagles senior girls beat their counterparts 71-61 and the Elecs senior boys bested their Highway 39 rivals 79-75. The McLeod Series now stands at 43-39 in the Eagles favour.
