Medomak Valley boys’ basketball team nipped Lincoln Academy 60-56 in overtime on Feb. 4 in the two teams’ KVAC season finale in Newcastle. With the win, the Panthers finish the season with a 14-4 record. Lincoln ends their season with an 11-7 record.
The Panthers jumped out to a 12-8 lead, sparked by two 3-pointers from Isaac Durkee and one from Jason Vinal. Medomak out scored the Eagles 11-8 in the 2nd period to lead 23-16 at the half. Alex MacKenzie boosted the Panthers’ lead to nine when he scored the opening hoop of the 3rd period. Ben Mclain and Pat Mullin hit back to back threes for Lincoln to cut the lead to three. The Eagles got as close as two, before Durkee connected at the line for a three-point play and MacKenzie went back door for two. The Panthers held on for a 34-30 lead at the end of the quarter.
Medomak led for the first 28 minutes of play, before the Eagles took their first lead of the ball game on a three-point play from Andrew Feltis mid-way through the final period. MacKenzie scored five straight to put Medomak up by four. Lincoln netted six straight points to take a two point lead with 1:18 to go. Feltis crashed the glass for two, and Ethan Wajer settled two at the line and scored a hoop on a Feltis feed in the rally.
Durkee tied the score with a minute to play on a feed from Vinal. MacKenzie had a chance to take the lead at the foul line with 25 seconds left to go, but missed both shots. Everett Martin came away with the rebound, and the Eagles looked in good shape to take the lead. McLain drove inside for the Eagles with one second to go, but Panther MacKenzie stood his ground to draw the charge and send the game into overtime.
Martin and Dustin Osier traded hoops in OT. Ben McLain hit two at the line for Lincoln and Vinal hit a 3-pointer to put Medomak up by one. Brandon Reilly connected for a three-point play to put the Eagles up by two. Durkee hit a big three with 1:23 to go, then went back door for two to put Medomak up by three. McLain made two foul shots to cut the lead to one with 26 seconds to play. Durkee came up big on a pass from Daniel Aubel to put Medomak up by three with 13 seconds left. Aubel scored one of two freebies to boost the Panthers’ lead to four.
Scoring for Medomak were Durkee 20 (3-3’s, 5R,5S), MacKenzie 11 (7R,2A,1S), Vinal 9 (2R,2S,4A), Aubel 8 (6R), John Bartlett 4, Osier 4 (1S,2A), and Isaac Greenrose 4. Scoring for Lincoln were Reilly 13 (6R,2S,3A), Feltis 11 (4R,2S,1A), McLain 10 (4R,1S,3A), Martin 9 (6R,2B,1S), Pat Mullin 3, Kyle Scherer (4R,2S), and Dylan Leavitt (4R,2B).
