ASHLAND — In a season where parity held sway, the chase for the Ohio Cardinal Conference ended the only way it could.
Ashland’s Luke Denbow forced overtime with a miraculous 3-pointer and the Arrows held on for a wild 79-74 win over Mansfield Senior at Arrow Arena.
The win lifted Ashland (13-8, 8-4) to its first OCC title since 2015 and prevented a four-way tie for the conference crown. Lexington, West Holmes and Wooster all finished a game back at 7-5.
“It was a crazy year. I’ve never seen the OCC like this,” said Denbow, a four-year starter and Ashland’s career scoring and assists leader. “So I wasn’t surprised we had to go to overtime to win it.”
Denbow and teammate Grayson Steury combined for 63 of Ashland’s 79 points, including all 30 in the first half. Denbow scored 26 of his 38 points from the free throw line, connecting on a stunning 26-of-30 freebies.
As a team, Ashland was 37-for-43 from the stripe. Mansfield Senior (4-15, 2-9) was whistled for 33 personal fouls and had four players foul out.
“They were fouling us a lot, so we got to the line and knocked down free throws,” Denbow said. “Free throws and defense are the most important parts of the game.”
Despite all its foul trouble, Senior High had a golden opportunity to win the game in regulation. The Tygers led 67-64 with 9.6 seconds remaining, but missed the front end of a 1-and-1.
Denbow grabbed the rebound, dribbled into the frontcourt and launched a contested 3-pointer from the right wing that found nothing but the bottom of the net with four seconds to play.
Senior High coach Marquis Sykes immediately called a timeout, but by the time the officials saw the signal, only 1.3 seconds remained. The officials conferred and put 1.9 seconds on the clock, but the Tygers couldn’t get a clean look before the horn sounded, sending the game to OT.
“At that point in the game, he was 1-for-8 from the 3-point line. He made a tough shot,” Sykes said. “We contested the shot and made him shoot a deep 3.
“Some coaches foul (on the floor) in that situation, but I’m not one of those guys who believes in fouling when you are up three. I like for our guys for sit down and force a contested 3. That’s what we did, but he just made a good shot.”
Steury scored on a layup early in the four-minute extra session to give the Arrows a 69-67 lead. Ashland wouldn’t trail again. A pair of Keslar Bates free throws with 51.9 seconds left gave the Arrows a 75-70 lead, but Senior High’s Nathan Haney hit a 3-pointer with 31 ticks remaining to cut it to 75-73.
Steury split a pair of freebies with 23.4 second to go to make it 76-73, but on Senior High’s next trip, Ashland’s Kamden Mowry took a charge with 16 seconds to go.
Steury was again fouled after the change of possession and again split a pair of free throws to make it 77-73. Haney hit 1 of 2 from the stripe with 5.2 seconds left to make it 77-74 but Denbow iced it with his 25th and 26th made free throws of the evening with 3.8 seconds remaining.
“We got to the free throw line a lot, but you’ve still got to make them,” Ashland coach Jason Hess said. “We had some big ones by guys who weren’t normally in the flow of the game. They stepped up and hit some huge ones.”
In addition to his 38 points, Denbow grabbed nine rebounds, handed out five assists and pocketed six steals. Steury had 25 points and six boards.
Haney led Senior High with 17 points. Freshman sharpshooter Jakob Legron had 16 points, while Maurice Ware added 13 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. Kincade Gibson and Malachi Johnson each had nine points.
The loss was the 10th in a row for Mansfield Senior (4-15, 2-9). Senior High’s last win came at home against Ashland on Jan. 4.
“I told our guys they fought hard, but we didn’t execute down the stretch,” Sykes said. “We have to execute down the stretch, we have to knock down our free throws down the stretch and we can’t foul.”
It will be a short turnaround for Senior High. The Tygers host crosstown rival Madison on Saturday afternoon in a game that was postponed from Thursday because of inclement weather.
Ashland, meanwhile, is off until Feb. 25. The Arrows will play either Madison or Bowling Green for a sectional title at Rossford.
Until then, Ashland will enjoy it’s OCC title.
“It’s been seven long years since our last one of these,” Hess said. “I’m so proud of these kids.”
