Instant Classic On J98 Sees West County Beat #6 Steelville At The Buzzer In Overtime

Logos Courtesy of the Schools

(Leadwood) An instant classic took place at West County Wednesday night. The Bulldog boys beat #6 Steelville, 67-65, at the buzzer in overtime on J98. In the first quarter, Steelville raced out to a 10-0 lead but West County managed to tie the game at 17 at the end of the quarter.

A back-and-forth second quarter ended with Steelville taking the lead at halftime, 30-27. Dream Teamer Landon Mabe for Steelville scored nine of his game-high 26 points in the third quarter…

And the physicality was raised as the game went on…

Carson Mullen had three blocks and 11 rebounds for the Cardinals. It was a one point game at the beginning of the third quarter but Steelville went into the fourth quarter with a 48-42 lead…

West County’s Ty Harlow and Mabe traded buckets at a crucial moment in the fourth quarter…

Garrison Turner only scored six points for West County but a big bucket gave his Bulldogs their largest lead of the game…

Steelville tied the game at 59 and West County had a chance to win it with seven seconds left, but a contested Harlow three pointer was left short. To overtime we go.

Steelville scored the first points of overtime, but that was the last time the Cardinals led in this game. West County led 65-62 with 26 seconds to go. Steelville had the ball in their frontcourt coming out of a timeout…

West County coach Chris Labruyere gave his thoughts on the final play…

Merrill was the Applebee’s of Farmington Player of the Game. He had 10 points and provided energy and a presence that helped fuel the Bulldogs to victory. Levi Hale had 18 points and three blocks, Chasten Horton had 15 points and nine rebounds and Ty Harlow had 12 points.

West County improves to 5-2 and will face Potosi Saturday morning at the MAC Rotary Shootout at 9 am on AM-800 KREI. Steelville drops their first game of the season. The Cardinals are 6-1 and will play in the 67th Central Christmas Tournament on Regional Radio.

Interview with Chris Labruyere: