ORANGE — With all the pieces finally together, the Mahar boys basketball team took a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter against Southwick, Thursday night.
The Senators then had a shaky fourth quarter marred by turnovers, and a clutch shot by Southwick’s Danny Scharmann sent the game to overtime.
“We started to panic,” Mahar coach Chad Softic said. “When the game got tight, we got tight.”
The Rams celebrated the comeback but there was still overtime.
That’s when the Senators came to center court and fired up a raucous home crowd. They made enough plays in overtime to come away with a 55-51 win over the Rams.
“We didn’t hang our heads when they hit that big three,” Softic said. “That was a positive. We came out and made some plays in overtime.”
Multiple players have missed time due to injuries, sicknesses or coaching decisions by Softic during the season.
“We had two good practices,” Softic said. “It wasn’t perfect but we’ll take it.”
Noaha Chabot was the one to come to center court before the overtime and gesture to the crowd to get loud.
Chabot also made a game-saving play when he dove to the floor to gain possession with the Senators (3-2) clinging to a three-point lead with less than a minute to play in overtime.
“They get that possession and they have a chance to tie it,” Softic said. “That’s Mahar basketball.”
Deven Patch took care of the offense in the overtime.
A nice pass by Charlie Barnes over a fronting defender gave Patch a layup and a 54-51 lead with under a minute left.
Patch also went 3-for-6 from the line in the overtime and finished with 16 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks.
The Rams (3-2) put up some 3-pointers in an effort to tie the game before Chabot’s trip to the floor.
Jakob Carron’s eight-point second quarter helped the Senators build a 33-25 lead at halftime.
Carron had 12 points and 20 rebounds. Barnes added eight points with seven rebounds for Mahar.
Mahar ran a 2-3 zone with Patch and Ely Gonzalez down low, a defense that’s hard to score against in half-court sets.
Scharmann’s 3-point shooting throughout the game against Mahar’s zone kept the Rams within striking distance going into the fourth quarter.
Athol 58, Hampshire Regional 55 OT — Mark Ferrari’s clutch 3-point shot sent the game into overtime where the Red Raiders came away with a home win over the Raiders.
Ferrari led the Red Raiders (2-2) with 17 points.
Athol faced a 15-point deficit in the first half.
Bryce King scored 15 points, including three in the overtime session.
Nick Bousquet was in double-figures for Athol with 11 points.
Narragansett 56, Athol 32 — Haley Bigwood scored 15 points in a loss for the Red Raiders at Oakmont Regional.
Jenna St. Cyr scored a season-high 10 points for Athol (2-2).
The Red Raiders play Clinton High School on Friday at Oakmont.
