[score id=”48786″ align=”right”] Boys basketball wins OT thriller

Boys basketball earned a trip to state semifinals by edging out the Clarksburg Coyotes 62–61 in overtime. Despite trailing by nine with five minutes left in the game, the Vikes clawed their way back to squeeze by with their second one-point victory this postseason.

Whitman’s offense exploded out of the gate with a three from forward Shaq Diboti-Lobe, which eventually spurred a 10-0 run. But the Coyotes quickly found their rhythm, only trailing by 17-13 after an up-and-down opening quarter.

In the second period Clarksburg continued to score efficiently, coming within two points of the Vikings several times, but Diboti-Lobe carried the Vikings into halftime leading 29–25.

At the start of the second half Clarksburg made a key adjustment by pressuring full-court, which slowed down Whitman’s production on offense. This, along with Diboti-Lobe and center Max Oppenheim getting into foul trouble, left the Vikes behind 37–41 entering the final quarter. Diboti-Lobe and Oppenheim both picked up their fourth fouls early in the third quarter, forcing head coach Christopher Lun to frequently sub them into the game on offense and out of the game for defense.

Despite the risk of fouling out, Oppenheim emphasized the importance of mental acuity in their win.

“It was a very competitive, tense game,” he said. “The shifts in momentum made it even more important to keep our heads in the right place.”

Forwards Jack Berson and Joey Squeri stepped in, playing key minutes in the second half.

With five minutes left in the game Clarksburg began to take their foot off the gas offensively, instead opting to pass the ball around the perimeter to take time off the clock. The Vikes capitalized, however, and hung in the game, slowly but surely chipping away at the Coyotes’ seven-point lead.

Later in the fourth, guard Hannes Kogelnik ended his playoff scoring drought with a big three-pointer that brought the Vikes within two. Immediately after Clarksburg sped past the Vikes in transition, increasing the lead to four.

After this, Diboti-Lobe took over. He had two consecutive three-point plays in the final minutes, giving the Vikes a 55-53 lead. The Viking defense then locked down, and after Whitman forced a turnover, Clarksburg was forced to foul Koglenick, who sunk both foul shots to extend the lead to 57–53.

Berson said that it wasn’t easy coming back after being down by so much.

“It was stressful and we got into a deficit,” he said. “We remained under control and played tough and got stops on defense and hit big shots which ultimately allowed us to win.

Clarksburg did not go away, though. The Coyotes sank a three to shrink the lead to just one before intentionally fouling Diboti-Lobe, who made both of the ensuing free throws. With less than a minute left the Vikes led 59–56.

In the final moments of regulation Clarksburg star Andrew Kostecka, a Loyola University commit, tied the game with an off-balance three-pointer to send the game into overtime.

The Coyotes struck first in the four-minute OT with a quick layup, and would have scored again after a Viking turnover if not for an important block by forward George Wilson.

With just 35 seconds to play Diboti-Lobe nailed a contested three, giving the Vikes a one point lead that would stand until the final buzzer sounded.

After their 62-61 victory, the Vikes move on to play the Meade Mustangs at the Xfinity Center Thursday night at 9 p.m.

[score id=”48805″ align=”right”] Meyers’ 28 leads girls basketball over Clarksburg

The girls basketball team took home the 4A west regional title Saturday afternoon after a 63–39 victory over the Clarksburg Coyotes, allowing the Vikes to advance to the state semifinals.

Guard Abby Meyers led the team with 28 points, though seven different players contributed to the score.

“It was a great team win,” guard Hannah Niles said. “We really bought in as a team and focused on all the things that we talked about in terms of stopping Clarksburg.”

At the start of the game, the Coyotes were the first to get on the board, with four points from two sets of free throws. The Vikes got their first two points two and a half minutes in from forward Betsy Knox, who later contributed a three-pointer as well.

The Vikes finished the first quarter 16–10 with the help of a buzzer-beater three-pointer from Meyers, but the team said the beginning of the game did not reflect their usual playing.

“We were starting a bit slow and we were missing some free throws and shots that we normally make,” Niles said.

The second quarter played out similar to the first quarter, as the Vikings scored 14 points, 10 of which were from Meyers, and the Coyotes scored 11. The quarter also ended with a buzzer-beating three-pointer, this time for Clarksburg.

Starting the second half 30–21, the team was able to regain their usual control on offense during the third quarter, adding 18 points, including 10 from Knox.

“I thought we were tight [during the first half] for the second game in a row, and then things just really opened up,”coach Peter Kenah said.

As well as being the highest-scoring quarter for the Vikings, the third quarter showed a huge improvement on defense as well: the team held the Coyotes to only six points.

“We stopped them from getting offensive rebounds—it was our number one goal,” Kenah said. “And we were the first team to hold them under 40 the whole season—25 games—so that’s something we can really be proud of.”

Going into the fourth quarter with a 21-point lead, the Vikings were able to rotate in more team members, allowing five players to score for a total of 15 more points. The Coyotes had their highest-scoring quarter with 12 points, but they were unable to overcome the Vikes’ strong lead.

The team moves on to the state semifinals against North Point 5 Thursday night at Towson University.