GAME OF THE YEAR: Danville Christian earns first regional tournament victory with overtime win over Wayne County

Photo by Nico Pascarella: Danville Christian junior Lual Ayiei (1) rises up at the rim for a layup past the defense of Wayne County sophomore Seth Farmer (31) during the Warriors' 53-48 overtime victory over the Cardinals in the first round of the 12th Region Tournament on Thursday night.

SOMERSET - When the brackets for the boys' 12th Region Tournament were drawn last Saturday, everyone immediately circled the Wayne County-Danville Christian game, a rematch from just a few weeks prior that the Warriors won easily. The two top teams in the region, battling for survival in the first round. What can possibly be better than that?

How about an overtime game with numerous lead changes and a historic win for the Warriors? The Pulaski County High School gymnasium was electric throughout the course of the nightcap on day two of the region tournament and with good reason as well. Both teams looked like they were fixing to win at several points in the ball game, but some well-timed baskets by Danville Christian eventually gave them a 53-48 victory over the Cardinals in overtime.

It was all Warriors early on, as they immediately got out to an 11-0 lead over Wayne County with Emmanuel Dut scoring seven of those points. The length of Danville Christian was really bothering the Cardinals early on and you could tell, as Wayne was forced into several uncharacteristic turnovers and bad shots. Antajuan Dumphord finally scored the first four points of the game for the Cardinals to get them on the board. He added two free throws before the end of the period, however his team was still trailing 15-8 and were trying to figure out how to get shots up over their opponents.

A three from Geu Ateny to begin the second quarter and the Warriors had an 18-8 lead. Four from Seth Farmer, plus another two from Dumphord, and all of a sudden Wayne had cut that lead down to 18-14 and forced head coach Don Story to call a timeout. The Cardinals were feeding off the energy from their fan base and out of the timeout, Dumphord scored six of the final eight points in the period to tie the game up at 20-20 after the first half of action. Dumphord was huge in the half for the Cards as he scored 14 of their 20 points.

Photo by Nico Pascarella: Wayne County junior Antajuan Dumphord reacts after a play during the Cardinals' loss to Danville Christian in the 12th Region Tournament on Thursday.

Ateny and Farmer traded baskets early on in the third, with both Ateny and Dut then scoring to give the Warriors a bit of space at 26-22. The Warriors had an answer, at least it seemed at the time, for every Wayne County basket and as a result they seemed to be in control of the game. However, a 6-0 scoring spree by the Cards once again brought them right back into the game as they trailed by just one point at 34-33 heading into the final period. Freshman Ryder Bell was massive off the bench with four of those points during the quick run.

Kendall Phillips sent the Wayne County crowd into a frenzy with a three soon after the start of the fourth quarter, finally giving the Cardinals the lead at 36-34. A basket from Lual Ayiei was immediately followed by baskets from Phillips and Korbyn Edwards and pushed Wayne's lead up to 40-36, forcing a timeout by Danville Christian. A three from Braden Fugate, his first of the night, trimmed that lead down to just one point.

A massive offensive rebound from Farmer that saw him literally pull the ball out of another player's hands led to two points, putting the Cardinals back up by three. Fugate came back down on the other end and was heavily defended while shooting a three, but it bounced in and tied the game up at 42-42. Phillips was fouled and hit both of his free throws to give his team a two-point lead again with time winding down. Titus Boyd then said "Yahtzee" with an exclamation point, hitting a clutch basket (his first field goal of the game) to tie the game up. A Dumphord three for the win at the buzzer was just off, meaning this instant classic of a game was heading into overtime.

Phillips was able to hit one free throw to give the Cardinals a 45-44 lead shortly into the overtime period. Boyd continued his momentum with another two-point basket, giving Danville Christian the lead. A basket from Phillips was immediately followed by a jumper from Ateny, with Wayne County calling a timeout down 48-47.

Boyd nailed both free throws as the Cardinals were soon forced to start fouling, increasing the Warriors' lead up to 50-47. Phillips was then fouled on the other end but was only able to hit one of the two. A free throw from Fugate and Boyd each gave the Warriors a five-point edge and with a Fugate steal, Danville Christian was able to celebrate their first-ever victory in the 12th Region Tournament 53-48 in overtime over Wayne County.

For Wayne County, their season comes to an end with a record of 24-8. Best of luck to their lone senior Kayden Phillips in all of his future endeavors. Danville Christian will advance to the 12th Region Tournament semifinals on Monday, where they will play Somerset after they were victorious over Trinity Christian in the earlier game on Thursday.