(FESTUS) In boys hoops last night on KJFF, the Northwest Lions prevailed for their first win of the season, 57-54 in OT against the Jefferson Blue Jays. In what was ultimately a rather wacky affair with over 50-plus fouls and a faulty scoreboard during the overtime period, both teams went back and forth all the way to the end.

Jefferson held an early, yet small advantage in the 1st quarter…

Regional Radio’s Matt Greenwood with the call. Northwest makes the comeback, but not before a play by Cole Holdinghausen to help get the Blue Jays back out front…

At the end of 1, it was all knotted up at 8 apiece. Moving on to the 2nd quarter, the score remained watertight. Northwest found themselves picking up the lead twice. Foul after foul, both teams couldn’t come away with a runaway score by halftime, and at the break, it was the Lions up 24-22 over the Blue Jays.

Moving into the 3rd, it continued to be a low-scoring affair for both teams. Northwest moved out to their largest lead of the night with 4 points, but Jefferson climbed back yet again to tie it up at the buzzer. In the 4th quarter, Blue Jay Jon Weik shot a 3-pointer to place Jefferson in their first lead since back in the 2nd quarter.

With 3:55 left in the game, Jefferson pulled away with a 6 point advantage, but Northwest had absolutely no problems coming back. With less than 12 seconds left in regulation, the Blue Jays led 47-45…

Immediately after the overtime clock ticked away and Jefferson’s Easton Null hit a 3-pointer, there was a short delay as the scoreboard encountered a malfunction. In the last few seconds with the Blue Jays down 2, Null intentionally missed a free throw to create a rebound chance.

However, he missed the rim which resulted in a violation and Northwest was given the ball back. Clayton Wisdom for the Lions received the ensuing inbound and was fouled, given a chance to ice the game away.

Lions head coach Buddy Sodemann says up and down the roster, players contributed…

Blue Jays coach Jason Dreyer said the abundance of fouls and brief delay in overtime didn’t seem to hinder either team from doing what they needed to do…

The leading scorers for Northwest were Dillon Fisher with 12, Jaren Hollis with 11 and Clayton Wisdom with 10 points. For Jefferson, Jon Weik led with 16, followed by Easton Null with 13 and Levi Ebersoldt with 9.

The Northwest Lions improve to 1-6 and take on Timberland tonight. The Jefferson Blue Jays fall to 2-4 and host Ste. Genevieve on Friday.

Newsletter