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GUILFORD TWP. — Liam Murray refused to lose.
The senior power forward scored a season-high 40 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, leading the York Generals to a heart-pounding 90-83 double-overtime victory over the Spencer Redbirds in the “NBA 2K16” Medina County League Tournament championship game.
While the 6-foot-4 Murray was high scorer, his most important contribution was a pass. With the second-seeded Generals (13-4) leading 86-83 and less than 30 seconds remaining in 2OT, Murray fired to cutting center Justin Canedy for a two-handed dunk that all but sealed the game.
Spencer’s Curtis Roupe grabs a rebound against York’s Blake Brumfield, left, and Justin Canedy.
Murray was 18-for-38 shooting but didn’t score over the final 4:36. Teammates stepped up, as Justin Lowry scored five of his season-high 13 points in double overtime, Canedy (11 points, 18 rebounds) added five points in the OTs, Mikey “Little General” Novick dished out a game-high 12 assists and Braeden Stauffer had eight points, nine rebounds and six dimes.
Fourth-seeded Spencer (10-7), which rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter, got 31 points and nine assists from star point guard Allan Benson. Off-guard Matthew Potter, a 6.5-point scorer coming in, added an out-of-nowhere 20 points, while center Curtis “Big Dog” Roupe had 19 and 19 boards despite getting limited touches in the first half.
York never trailed after Canedy scored 31 seconds into double overtime. Clinging to 81-79, 84-81 and 86-83 leads over the final 2:06, the Generals got a Lowry 3-pointer, a Stauffer off-rim, off-backboard, off-rim-and-in jumper and the Canedy dunk. Novick iced the game with two free throws.
The York victory was earned the hard way.
The Generals appeared to be in control with 4:37 to go in regulation after Stauffer made a down-the-lane layup to make the score 65-56. The bottom fell out, however, as Spencer countered with an 13-0 run — the final eight points coming on Benson drives — and went ahead 69-65 with 1:14 left.
York’s Justin Lowry looks to pass against Spencer’s Brennan Scheck
The Redbirds couldn’t hang on, as Murray drilled a fadeaway 17-footer with the shot clock winding down and Stauffer connected on a high-post jumper after Spencer committed a turnover. The Redbirds’ Derek Hawley then had a hotly contested left-handed layup spin out with 4.2 seconds left, and Novick’s desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark.
The first overtime had a similar story.
Trailing 72-69, the Redbirds embarked on an 8-1 run behind a an acrobatic, double-pump layup by Roupe — he was fouled but missed the free throw — four Benson free throws and a pick-and-roll bucket by freshman Brennan Scheck that put the score at 77-73 with 44 seconds to go.
Spencer couldn’t finish — again.
Murray banked home on a leaner in the paint just past the outstretched arm of Roupe with 38.5 seconds left and got a steal at the other end. Novick then nearly was stripped driving baseline, but he gathered the ball quickly and cashed in a short jumper just off the block to tie the game.
Spencer had one more chance. The Redbirds ran clock and isolated Benson, but his 17-footer rattled out. York again had a last-second look for the win and again Novick came up short.
With NBA rules in place — the shot clock in particular had a huge impact — shots were aplenty and turnovers were limited. The teams combined to fire 72-for-183 overall (.393), 13-for-54 from 3-point range (.241) and 16-for-29 from the foul line (.552). They each had 46 points in the paint, Spencer won the rebounding battle 66-59 and York had 29 assists on 38 field goals.
Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.
York 90, Spencer 83 (2OT)
SPENCER 15 17 17 20 10 6 — 83
YORK 20 15 21 13 10 13 — 90
Spencer — Derek Hawley 1-9 0-4 2, Brennan Scheck 3-6 1-2 7, Curtis Roupe 9-20 1-4 19, Matthew Potter 7-18 0-0 20, Allan Benson 13-37 4-4 31, Zach Hawley 1-4 2-4 4. TOTALS: 34-94 8-15 83.
York — Justin Lowry 5-13 0-0 13, Liam Murray 18-38 3-5 40, Justin Canedy 4-11 3-6 11, Braeden Stauffer 4-12 0-0 8, Mikey Novick 3-11 2-2 9, Carter Hudak 3-3 0-0 6, Blake Brumfield 1-1 0-0 3. TOTALS: 38-89 8-13 90.
3-point goals — Spencer 7-34 (Potter 6-13, Benson 1-9, Scheck 0-1, Z. Hawley 0-3, Roupe 0-4, D. Hawley 0-4), York 6-20 (Lowry 3-6, Brumfield 1-1, Murray 1-3, Novick 1-5, Canedy 0-1, Stauffer 0-4). Rebounds — Spencer 66 (Roupe 19), York 59 (Murray 20). Assists — Spencer 15 (Benson 9), York 29 (Novick 12). Turnovers — Spencer 3, York 5. Total fouls — Spencer 7, York 10.