By KJ Cardinal
Chance Twomey’s putback as time expired gave Plymouth a thrilling 61-59 overtime victory over visiting Laconia on Wednesday night.
This rivalry match-up was an instant classic from start to finish. A battle between two one-loss Division II teams that was a game of runs in the first half and later featured multiple lead changes in the waining moments of regulation and overtime.
The host Bobcats were poised from the start as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead and later led by as many seven, 15-8, in the first quarter of play. That was the largest bulge of the game for either team all night.
Laconia responded with a 12-7 run of their own to take a 20-15 lead with 5:30 to go in the half. Plymouth then reeled off a 10-0 surge to lead 25-20 with just over two minutes to go in the 2nd. Of course, the Sachems closed out the opening 16 minutes of play with a 5-0 run to knot the game at 25-25 at intermission.
The 2nd half would be a grind-out affair. Laconia twice led by as many as six in the 3rd quarter, but the Bobcats battled back to close the gap to one, 37-36, heading to the final frame of regulation. The 4th featured three ties and three lead changes and culminated with some late dramatics to force overtime.
Plymouth trailed by three, 53-50, with just under a minute to play in the 4th. Back-to-back scores by Dylan Webster and Luke Legacy just 30 seconds apart gave Plymouth a 54-53 lead with 28 tickets left in regulation. Laconia’s Keaton Beck was fouled with seven seconds to go and went to the line to shoot two. The senior missed the first free throw attempt and connected on the second to tie the game at 54-54. Webster had a contested look at a deep three as time expired in regulation that was just short.
The first three minutes of OT were scoreless, but the final two minutes of action featured one tie and an improbable five lead changes.
Beck went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe to give Laconia a 55-54 lead with 1:51 left. Twomey then made two freebies of his own on the ensuing possession to push Plymouth ahead, 56-55.
With 1:16 to play, Beck scored and was fouled, but couldn’t complete the three-point play. Laconia retook the lead 57-56.
Just 13 seconds later, Twomey buried a big-time three to give the Bobcats a 59-57 lead with just over a minute to play. The Sachems continued to ride their big man as Beck made a tough lay up with 11 seconds to go, tying the game at 59-59.
Plymouth’s Johnny Flaherty took the ensuing inbounds and raced the length of the floor. A rainbow skip pass by Flaherty found Turner Oldenberg whose jumper hit front iron and caromed to the middle of the key. Twomey scooped it up with 0.9 on the clock and the south paw quickly flipped it up and in to beat the buzzer and give the Bobcats the wild win.
Twomey scored all seven of Plymouth’s points in overtime as he led all scorers with 18 on the evening. Webster chipped in with 13 and Flaherty and Legacy also added 10 apiece.
Beck paced the Sachems with 14 points, all coming in the second half and overtime. Tristan Parker, Matthew Robinson and Carson Tucker each score 10 points as well.
With the win, Plymouth moves to 5-1 on the season and sits in fourth in the D-II standings. Laconia falls to 5-2 in defeat.
Check out the full photo gallery by John Scott Sherburne…
