“After I talked to him the second time, I was pretty confident he was gonna hit it,” junior Trey Sam said. “I just put my hand on his and I was just like, ‘Take it from me. Hit this, we win the game.’”
And he did.
Centerville made it six straight wins over Greater Western Ohio Conference opponents with a 50-49 home victory over Fairmont on Thursday.
A back-and-forth fourth quarter saw five lead changes and four ties in a battle for first in the league.
“Both teams played really hard and physical,” Centerville head coach Brook Cupps said. “Dash knocking in the free throw late, I thought he played really well in the second half and got us some penetration that maybe we didn’t get in the first half and gave us some good looks.”
Craver’s drive to the basket in the final seconds saw him be fouled by Fairmont senior Sawyer Newman. Craver’s first attempt grazed the left side of the rim before rolling out the other side. His second did the same, but not enough to prevent it from swishing through as he walked backward with his right fist raised.
Credit: Steven Wright
Credit: Steven Wright
Fairmont called a timeout after trying to advance the ball and got a final in-bounds play with just over three seconds left. Senior Kaden Ralston received the ball from in front of his bench and gave a fake to draw off the defender. Dribbling to his right he got off a relatively clean look from three from near the top of the arc, but it clanged off the left side of the rim as Centerville survived.
“As a coach you want to take a timeout and try to talk to them about it, but they didn’t have any timeouts so we decided just to force them to try to do something on the fly,” Cupps said. “I thought our guys contested it, and I mean he got a decent look off the dribble. A contested three in that situation is not a bad situation, so you just got to take what happens.”
Centerville (10-5, 8-1) snapped its two-game losing skid and Fairmont’s six-game winning streak. Trey Sam scored 19 points to lead the way, and freshman Julian Sam added 12.
The Elks got off to a much better start than it had in recent performances, grabbing an early 7-0 lead before building a 13-point cushion by the end of the first quarter.
Credit: Steven Wright
Credit: Steven Wright
Fairmont (10-5, 7-3) steadily fought its way back with timely three-point shooting by Newman, who hit five in the game, and senior Nolan Stringer.
After a technical foul called on Fairmont for its second flop warning put Centerville up by 10 early in the third, the Firebirds took control. A 15-4 run capped by a Newman three from the corner put Fairmont ahead for the first time all night late in the period.
From there the two sides traded blows into the final minute. Trey Sam hit a jumper in front of the free throw line to put Centerville ahead by two with 1:40 remaining. As the clock neared a minute remaining, Fairmont senior Kameron Thornton got a steal near midcourt and recovered a loose ball which he drove in for the tying layup with 55 seconds left.
After a timeout, Centerville held the ball until Craver’s heroics at the line.
“After losing the last two games against some very tough teams, I think we just had to come out and be ready ourselves,” Sam said. “I think we did a good job in the locker room and warm-ups preparing for that and they had their moments, we had our moment, and I think we just did a great job executing in the end and coming together to win that.”
Newman had 17 points in the loss for Fairmont. Junior Jayden McGraw, the leading scorer in the GWOC, added 12, and Spencer scored 10.
Centerville swept the season series over its rival after it also overcame a four-point halftime deficit to win at Fairmont in the first meeting.
The Elks remain atop the GWOC by a game ahead of Wayne, who Centerville plays next after a non-league game at Covington Catholic (Ky.) on Saturday.
“We got Wayne on Tuesday and we just lost to them,” Sam said. I think this win will help us build some confidence going in to this game, especially at home."
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