CLARION, Pa. – Neil MacDonald scored five of his game-high 23 points in overtime to keep Ridgway’s season alive with a 65-62 overtime victory against Clarion-Limestone in the District 9 Class 2A boys’ consolation game Saturday afternoon at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym.
(Cover photo of Neil MacDonald of Ridgway. Photo by Paul Burdick. Check out more of Burdick’s work here)
Dan Callen forced overtime with a reverse layup with about 12 seconds left, as C-L rallied from a six-point, 48-42, deficit with just under six minutes left.
Neil MacDonald
C-L took a 59-58 lead in overtime following a 3-pointer by Christian Smith with two minutes left, but MacDonald, who finished with a double-double thanks to 12 rebounds, answered with a layup at the other end to give the Elkers the lead back at 60-59 with 1:39 to go.
Freshman Deion Deas, who had a team-high 22 points for the Lions, made one of two charity shots with 1:15 to go to tie the game, but the Lions fouled Daunte Allegretto on the inbounds pass with 1:14 to go and he hit both free throws to put Ridgway in the lead for good, 62-60.
Allegretto then made one of two charity shots with 52.7 to go to make it 63-60, and MacDonald grabbed an offensive rebound after Justin Kasmierski missed two free throws with 11.1 left and was fouled hitting one of two to make it a 64-60 contest with 9.5 to play.
MacDonald talked about the win.
Ian Callen, who struggled mightily going 2 of 10 from the floor and 1 of 4 from the free-throw line, got a layup with just under four seconds left to make it a 64-62 game.
The Lions then fouled Kasmierski, who missed the first but hit the second with two seconds left.
C-L was able to run a long play to Ian Callen, but the sophomore’s 3-pointer was just a bit too strong.
RIDGWAY 65, CLARION-LIMESTONE 52
Score by Quarters
Clarion-Limestone 15 14 11 15 7 – 62
Ridgway 17 15 10 13 10 – 65
CLARION-LIMESTONE – 62
Deion Deas 6 3-4 18, Julian Laugand 2 0-0 4, Sam Leadbetter 5 0-1 10, Ian Callen 2 1-4 5, Dan Callen 3 3-4 11, Chris Callen-Deal 0 0-0 0, Christian Smith 6 1-1 14, Mac Park 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 8-14 52.
RIDGWAY – 65
Ben Ames 2 0-0 4, Josh Thorwart 3 0-0 6, Neil MacDonald 7 9-12 23, Andy Breier 4 0-0 8, Justin Kasmierski 8 1-3 17, Kyle Jordan 0 0-0 0, Aaron Hinton 0 0-0 0, Daunte Allegretto 1 4-7 7. Totals 25 14-22 65.
Three-pointers: C-L 4 (Deas 3, Smith). Ridgway 1 (Allegretto)
