SOLON — Double overtime. Two seconds left on the clock.
The Solon Spartans are up three against their rivals, Center Point-Urbana (CPU). At the free throw line stands Solon’s Maddox Kelley. If he makes the free throw, Solon seals the deal. If he misses, The Stormin’ Pointers have a chance to tie it at the other end. Kelley takes a moment to catch his breath. With every eye in the gym on him, with every ounce of pressure in the game on him, he lines his body up to the hoop, and shoots.
Swish.
This was the icing on the cake for the Solon Spartans, who captured an oh-so sweet rivalry win over CPU last Tuesday night. The double overtime thriller earned the Spartans their seventh win in a row, tying them for first in the WaMaC East conference standings.
From the beginning, it was a back-and-forth, blow-for-blow kind of game. While both teams traded momentum like a hot potato, neither team ever led by more than four points at any point in the game. In fact, there were TWENTY ONE lead changes throughout the game, and eleven ties. It was no surprise that extra periods were required to settle this dog fight.
Both teams put their defensive efforts on display for all six periods of play. After CPU took a 16-14 lead after the first, the Spartans managed to hold the Stormin Pointers to only four points in the second quarter.
While the two teams struggled from three (shooting a combined 7/43 from the arc), their efficiency in the paint kept the two teams going.
Down 46-44 with 13 seconds to go, CPU’s Cooper Grimm made a layup to tie things up at 46. Solon had a chance to hold for the last shot but failed to capitalize. In overtime, the trend followed suit with the first four quarters. A back and forth four minutes saw CPU’s Kinnick Covington convert a layup to tie things up at 56 with 22 seconds to go. Once again, Solon had a chance to hold for the last shot. With a golden opportunity at the rim for a put back at the buzzer, the Spartans didn’t get the roll, and it was on to double overtime.
After six lead changes in double overtime, the Spartans were able to claw their way to a three point lead. With five seconds to go, senior Nolan Seagren made a big time layup as the shot clock expired to give Solon a three point lead. Physical defense on CPU’s inbound pass from Solon led to a CPU turnover. With two seconds left, Solon sophomore Maddox Kelley was sent to the free throw line to ice the game. After the first free throw was waved off due to a lane violation, Kelley had one last chance to secure the win for the Spartans. No problem for the sophomore at all, he knocked it down.
In close games like this, free throws matter more than almost anything down the stretch. Solon shot an incredibly impressive 15/16 from the line, putting emphasis on the “free” in “free throw”.
Defense and physicality has been a key factor to the Spartan’s success all season. When asked about the defensive effort, Spartan’s head coach Jared Galpin was glowing over his team’s abilities.
“Defense is always something we preach,” stated Galpin after the game. “We weren’t hitting shots, but we had a four point lead at half, so I thought that was a positive.”
Looking ahead, Coach Galpin addressed the upcoming weeks for his squad.
“We know this stretch is tough.” Galpin explained. “We’ve been gearing up for this. We knew that once we settled in we would become a better team and we have done that. This is a well experienced team.”
The Spartans advanced to 10-4 following Tuesday night’s win. They will look to continue adding to their current seven game win streak as we get closer and closer to the state tournament.
Wolves prey on Spartans for 63-51 loss
MARION — Solon’s seven game winning streak was snapped Friday, Jan. 31 on the road as the Marion Wolves prevailed. The game was tied 17-all at the end of the first period and knotted at 31-all at halftime. In the third, Marion outscored Solon 18-8 and never relinquished their lead as the Wolves improved to 7-9 while dropping the Spartans to 10-5.
Maddox Kelley led Solon with 14 points but Marion’s Jaryn Griffith and Tait Rahe led all with 18 apiece. Isaiah Zoske and Caleb Bock produced nine points each with six from Nolan Seagren, four by Grant Gordon, three from Jackson Link, and two points each by Karsyn Regennitter, Kaden Hoeper, and Ethan Ulch.
Spartans rebound with 66-56 win over Regina
IOWA CITY — Following their loss to Marion the Spartans visited Regina Catholic (Iowa City) Saturday, Feb. 1 for a non-conference contest and came away with a ten-point win. The Regals led 14-12 at the end of the first period, but a 22-point effort by the Spartans in the second led to a 34-26 halftime advantage. Solon was up 51-37 going into the final eight minutes.
Maddox Kelley led all with 23 points including five three-point baskets while Isaiah Zoske added 19 points (3/3 from the arc), Jackson Link produced ten points with eight from Caleb Bock, four from Grant Gordon, and two points from Nolan Seagren.
The win improved Solon’s record to 11-5 while handing the Regals their second loss of the season for a 16-2 record.