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Mavericks defeat Lions in OT

The North Country Mavericks overcame several obstacles in picking up a 51-48 overtime win over the Lustre Christian Lions on Friday, January 11.

"It was a hard game to have a key factor in because there was so much fouling going on," Coach Ralph Ellsworth told the PCN after the game. "Both teams played very hard and actually played pretty well."

The Mavericks also defeated the Frazer Bearcubs on Saturday, January 12.

The Mavericks are scheduled to take on the Glasgow Scotties in Saco on Friday, January 18, at 7:30 p.m. The team will then travel to Brockton to take on the Lady Warriors at 7:30 p.m.

In the Mavericks' overtime win over Lustre, the team was led by Ty Murphy who had 15 points. Loden Idler scored 13 points, seven of which in overtime, which gave the team enough points to win. Beau Simonson and Brady Albus both had eight points. Jesse Lee had five points and Jon Rey Taylor had two points.

The Mavericks kept pace with Lustre throughout the game, but it was obvious from the start that Lustre's height and zone defense frustrated North Country.

"We just struggle with height so we had to find a way to win the game because of that and we were able to knock down some shots tonight, which we haven't been doing, so it was a pretty good game for us," Coach Ellsworth said.

The coach and team stayed true to Coach Ellsworth's base offense, but according to the longtime coach, the team had to keep defensive pressure on Lustre.

"They got away and got some threes on us and they are good free throw shooters, so we got behind because of free throw shots," Coach Ellsworth said.

The Mavericks had a lead in the fourth quarter despite giving up valuable points on a late technical foul. Late free throws made by Lustre's Zach Taylor tied the game and sent the game into overtime. Taylor scored 24 for Lustre while 6'7" forward Terry Allmer added 18.

In the overtime period, Taylor scored first, putting his team up 46-44. After a turnover, Allmer would get to the line after being fouled on an offense rebound. He made one of the two double bonus attempts putting his team up 47-44.

With 2:34 remaining in the period, the Mavericks needed to respond. After drawing a foul, The Mavericks inbounded the ball and eventually, Idler knocked down a game-tying trey. The score was 47-47.

Idler would eventually get hooked by a Lustre defender while driving to the hoop on the next possession. Idler missed the first but would get the second free throw to drop on a bounce and roll off of the rim. The Mavericks led 48-47 with 1:16 to go.

With 39.5 seconds to go Lustre's Kolden Hoversland drew a foul for a pair of free throws. Hoversland would miss the first but make the second, tying the game 48-48.

With seven seconds left in the game, Lustre's Allmer would block a Maverick shot attempt out of bounds, giving the Mavericks one last chance with 6.8 seconds remaining.

Idler would inbound the pass, which eventually went to Taylor, who flipped it back over to Idler, who then sank the game-winning trey.

In the Mavericks' 49-25 win over Frazer, the team was led by Murphy who scored 13 points. Simonson added 11 points, and Lee had ten. Idler had nine points, Taylor had four points and Ostrom had two points.

 

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