State College boys rally falls short against McDowell

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: January 23, 2022

Photos by Jeff Shomo
STATE COLLEGE – It came down to the wire Saturday afternoon as the State College boys basketball team was involved in a Non-Conference overtime thriller against McDowell.

After the Little Lions battled their way back after trailing 29-21 to tie things to send the game into an overtime contest.

In the extra period, the two battled back and forth with the Trojans outlasting they Little Lions 51-47.

Braedon Shrewsberry led the way for the Little Lions as he posted a 15-point effort.

Teammate Lake Black followed up with a 13-point finish

McDowell got 14-point performances by Luke Chamberlain and Nick Grimm.

Going into the final stanza, State College trailed by eight points.

After a Trojan basket to start the period, Shrewsberry lined things up from beyond the tree-point line and hit nothing but net, cutting it to a 31-24 lead.

But McDowell battled back to go on a 4-0, upping the lead to double digits again with 5:26 left.

Jordan Mitchell started the Little Lions scoring run as he hit 2-of-2 after being hacked trying to go in for the lay in.

After a Trojans turnover, the Little Lions worked the ball into Ryan Perks who proceeded to hit 1-of-2 from the line after being fouled.

Perks made two consecutive steals which led by points by himself and Black, cutting it to a 35-31 deficit.

McDowell made it a 6-point game when Chamberlain hit a clutch shot in the paint.

But State was quick to answer when they got the ball to Jaden Mitchell. Mitchell sent a soaring triple., putting the Little Lions to within one with 43 seconds.

On the following McDowell trip down court, the Little Lions’ defense forced a travel violation to give the ball back to State.

State College made the most of the situation as they got the ball to an open Perks who was standing behind the three-point line sent it and made it to give his team the lead for only the second time in the game.

However, with 18.1 seconds left in regulation, McDowell worked the ball down the court and scored with two ticks left on the clock. It would be an offensive put back by Chamberlin, sending the game into overtime.

In the overtime period, Chamberlain hit 1-of-2 to start off the scoring.

State came back with another triple by Shrewsberry, giving his team a 42-40 advantage with 3:05 left.

On the following offensive trip down court for McDowell, Nick Grimm tied the contest on an offensive board.

State College continued to attack as Black took the ball down the court and was fouled in the act of shooting, sending him to the line.

Chamberlain cut a point off the State College lead when he hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe.

Shrewsberry upped the State College lead to four after hitting 2-for-2 from the line, making it a 47-43 lead with 1:50 left.

But the Trojans’ defense stiffened and its offense rolled off a run of 8-0 for the 51-47 victory.

In the first quarter McDowell had the hot hand early to take a 10-5 first quarter lead.

Things continued to work for the Trojans as the also outscored State 8-5 in the second after taking a 21-16 advantage into the intermission.