Columbus, OH - Centerville took on Pickerington Central at the Nationwide Arena for the final game of the annual Ohio Play By Play Classic.
Centerville got off to a slow start playing poor defense and not being able to capitalize on mistakes or get to the basket.
Pickerington Central got off to a hot start and gaining a sizeable lead at 8-2, off the back of forward Devin Royal who put up six points in this quarter alone.
Centerville was able to put up 8 points this quarter, but Pickerington Central was able to comeback and take a 10-8 lead after one.
In the second Centerville was looking to take the lead and off the back of Kyle Kennedy's back to back three pointers they were able to get the lead putting up 13 points in the second.
Pickerington Central was looking to take back their lead, and they almost did off of Devin Royal's 100% from the free throw line and two different slam dunks on the breakaway, but they weren't able to take back the lead as Centerville goes into the half up 21-20.
Coming back from the half in this tightly contested game both teams looked to take control in the 2nd half.
Pickerington started to make a little comeback because of their top scorer Royal, and Centerville was just making mistakes for them to capitalize on. They were able to score nine in the third.
Centerville was eventually able to start cooking and Jonathan Powell was able to keep the momentum for his team and score 12 points this quarter extending their lead by 2 at 33-30 entering the final quarter.
To start the fourth Centerville was able to score a quick four points to extend their lead, while Pickerington had only made three free throws.
Pickerington picked up the slack and was able to put up 14 points in the fourth because of their star Devin Royal who lead his team to 44 points.
Centerville was only able to put up 11 points, 8 of which came from center Dulguun Gankhuyag, but it wasn't enough as Pickerington scored with no time left to tie the game and we headed to overtime tied at 44.
Overtime started hot for Pickerington as Royal was able to slam the ball into the basket within the first 20 seconds, but Gabe Cupps for Centerville was able to get a foul and make both free throws keeping the game tied at 46-46.
Pickerington kept it coming with another Royal slam to take the lead, but this time Kennedy was able to draw a shooting foul. He missed one of two so Pickerington held a one point lead.
Pickerington made one free throw to go up by two, but Collin O'Connor was able to hit a three pointer with 4.6 seconds left to take the lead 50-49.
With 1.6 seconds left in overtime, Devin Royal was fouled to shoot two free throws, down by one. He missed the first so it all came down to the second free throw which he made and it was on to a 2nd overtime.
Cupps got the ball on the tip off and made an easy layup. He was then fouled and was able to make both free throws to go up 54-50.
Pickerington then fouled O'Connor and he made both to make it a six point game, but Royal went to the basket and got a foul of his own where he made one of his free throws to shorten the gap to five points.
Kennedy now gets a chance at the free throw line in the second overtime, where he drills both of his shots to make it a seven point game with 28.9 seconds left, but Royal was able to answer the call to make a three and keep it within range with 11.7 seconds to play.
Unfortunately for Pickerington Central, they weren't able to come back in double overtime and fell just short to Centerville 60-54.
The player of the game for Pickerington Central was Devin Royal with 27 points and several clutch free throws.
Player of the game for Centerville was Dulgunn Gankhuyag who put up 14 points and really kept his team in the game all night.
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