Hometown Sports
Don't Miss

Mounties fight to the end; falls in heartbreaker versus Westmont Hilltop

By Kenny Varner

PHILIPSBURG – They went down fighting.

Despite being down by as many as 11 points in the first half,the Mounties rallied back in the District 6 Class AAA Semifinals, taking a lead going into the final eight minutes.

However, one flick of the wrist, by Westmont Hilltop’s Dylan Craft changed the fortunes of the Mounties team, lifting the Hilltoppers to a 66-62 win over Philipsburg-Osceola Tuesday.

Craft’s triple and foul in the corner, clinched a championship nod for Westmont Hilltop after an incredible back-and-forth contest.

He was fouled on the play and we forced to let teammate Alex Ray to hit the rare four-point foul opportunity.

“I thought Westmont Hilltop came out with intensity and I felt we had to whether the storm. With our character and knowing who we are we got back into it,” said Philipsburg-Osceola coach TJ Anderson. “Eventually down the stretch they had an answer then we had an answer and the better team won tonight.”

Craft had a hot hand all game long posting five triples en route to a 19-point effort.

Teammate Landon Weeks followed up with an 18-point performance.

Hilltopper Tanner Civis was a force to be reckoned with in the paint as he finished with a 17-point effort, rounding out the double-digit scoring for the victors.

“This was a great high school basketball game. I told Coach Anderson that. I know they lost but there were no losers here. We had them down by 11 and they are a great team. The came back and took the lead,” said Westmont’s coach Dave Roman. “We have to give our kids credit too. They showed a lot of resilience and came back. We got down three but our kids came back with clutch shots and clutch free throws and the big one at the end there.”

The Mounties were led by senior captain Ryan Whitehead who also finished with 19 points.

Teammate’s Jacob DeSimone and Oliver Harpster finished with 18 points and 12 points, respectively.

Rounding out the double-digit scorers was Jeremey Whitehead with 10.

Going into the final stanza the Mounties led by two points, 54-52.

Coming out of the break, Austin Spencer went right into the heart of the Philipsburg defense, tying it at 54.

The Mounties took back the lead as they fished the ball inside to Ryan Whitehead, giving the home team back the lead.

On its next possession, the Hilltoppers went right back to attack the heart of the Philipsburg defense. This time Civis drove the ball in traffic for the bucket at 5:17 left.

But with another bucket to Ryan Whitehead once again, the Mounties took back the lead once again.

Craft would give his opponent a preview of what was to come as he hit a clutch triple, giving his team back the lead for the first time since the third quarter.

It would be Ryan Whitehead once again to the rescue as he once again showed his presence in the paint to give the Mounties back the

advantage at 60-59 with 4:36 left.

The Mounties defense kept the Hilltoppers off the board as they got the ball down court to Jeremy Whitehead as he hit a spinning turnaround jumper, upping the lead to three, 62-59.

Showing no fear of the Mounties’ defense as Civis charged the paint, cutting the PO lead to one with 3:49.

From there both defenses took over with neither team getting a bucket for the next two minutes of play.

Again, Civis would be cool under pressure, hitting 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, knotting the game at 62.

Both teams remained stuck at 62, until the final seconds of the contest.

Getting the possession with 29 ticks left, Westmont put their plan in action. After trying to get some easy looks for its players, the Hilltoppers could not get a clear shot and had to defer to their saftey net, the hands of Craft.

Craft went straight up and hit nothing but net as he was fouled with just 3.6 left in the game, giving them a 65-62 lead.

With Craft laying on the floor in pain, Roman went to Ray to secure the victory.

Ray stepped up to the line and sunk the free throw, icing the game with a four point lead.

Though the last shot by the Mounties missed both teams walked off the court as members of “an Instant Classic.”

In the first quarter, the Hilltoppers came out with guns a blazing as they sizzled from behind the 3-point line.

The Mounties’ Ryan Whitehead started the scoring.

But the Hilltoppers went right out and posted a 9-0 run. Craft highlighted the run with his first of five triples.

With the run, the Mounties called a time out to regroup.

It didn’t help as the Hilltoppers crowded the middle keeping the Philipsburg big men out.

Westmont upped its lead to 12-2 on a triple by Weeks.

For the rest of the quarter, the Hilltoppers were able to keep a double-digit cushion.

When the buzzer sounded on the first quarter, Westmont held a 23-13 advantage.

The Hilltoppers continued to keep its distance in the second, outscoring Philipsburg 18-17 for the 41-30 advantage.

Despite a run by the Mounties in the third quarter, Westmont found a way to win it in grand fashion.

Coming out of the intermission, the Mounties exploded for a 24-point effort while holding the Hilltoppers to just 11. The excitement was just beginning as Philipsburg-Osceola he’d the lead and the momentum.

“It was a tough fight and sometimes “you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you” and they just got to grow from it,” said Anderson. “

Westmont Hilltop 66, Philipsburg-Osceola 62

WH 23 18 11 14 – 66

PO  13  17 24  8 – 62

Scoring: Westmont – Austin Spencer 2 0-0 5 , Landon Weeks  7 2-2 18, Tyler Moseorjak 3 0-1 6, Dylan Craft   7 0-0 19, Alex Ray 0 1-1 1, Tanner Civis  8 1-1 17. Totals 27 4-5 66. PO –  Oliver Harpster  5 0-0 12, Ryan Whitehead  8 2-3 19, Jacob DeSimone  7 3-3 18, Tristan Doyle 1 1-2 3, Jeremy Whitehead 4 0-0 10. Totals 25 6-8 62.

3-point shots: Westmont – Spencer, Weeks  2, Craft 5 . PO –  Harpster 2, DeSimone, J. Whitehead 2.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.