Hawks get tough double OT win at HTC

FORT MADISON — It was all about making shots.
It was something Central Lee’s boys basketball team didn’t do in the fourth quarter and in the first overtime of Friday’s 62-58 win over Holy Trinity.
In the second overtime, though, things were different.
The three field goals in those final four minutes — two shots from Kaden Swan and one from Carson Morrison — were one more than the Hawks had in the fourth quarter and the first overtime.
They were enough to get the road win for the Hawks (7-2 overall, 6-2 SEISC South Division).
“The second half, especially, we did not make very many shots, which we kind of let them back in it,” said Central Lee coach Jonny Swanson. “And then, fortunately, we found a way to take it to overtime. And then we just found a way to get the ball in the bucket a couple times. That's really all it was.”
The Crusaders (4-5, 3-5) got a little cold in the second overtime. Layne Rung missed two shots along with the first of two free throws with 41 seconds left. Jack Ragar also missed the first free throw of his two-shot attempt with 1:28 to play.
“In that overtime period, I had two freshmen and a sophomore on the court against kind of a senior-laden Central Lee team,” Holy Trinity coach John Hellige said. “And they're just a little bit stronger than us. We missed some free throws, and that didn't cost us the game, but it certainly didn't put us in the best position to win.”
Rung’s second free throw got Holy Trinity within 60-58. Central Lee was going to have to take a shot at the other end, and Swan missed his shot with seven seconds left. Rung grabbed the rebound, but was immediately tied up by Central Lee’s Will Hayes. The possession arrow favored the Hawks, and Hayes was fouled with 1.8 seconds left. He made both free throws for the final margin.

Central Lee had the last shot at the end of the fourth quarter and at the end of the first overtime, but Owen Swan’s 3-point attempts missed.
“This is a tough place to play,” Swanson said. “Any time you face a John Hellige-coached team, you know you’re in for a battle — they’re a tough team to play. Those guys do the right thing — they play defense, they really play hard. So for us to get this win, it’s pretty big.”
The Hawks took control of the game in the first half with a 17-1 run to take a 33-20 lead.
“We were able to get downhill a little bit, and just attack the basket, and that just kind of frees up everything,” Swanson said. “We always talk about taking a small advantage and turn it into a big advantage. So it might not be you who scores, but it's the next guy. We're setting up for the next guy, and that's what we do super well, I think. We share the ball.”
“We worked all week on limiting lane penetration, and they kind of did that a little bit at will there in the first half,” Hellige said. “And I think once we kind of shut that down a little bit, it helped. But they hit some really tough mid-range shots.”
But Ragar hit a 3-pointer with 19 seconds left in the first half and then had a layup at the buzzer to get Holy Trinity within 33-25 heading into halftime, setting up the Crusaders’ run in the second half to tie the game.
“These guys, they want to win so bad, and when they play hard, and they play with effort and they play with their hearts, they can play with anybody in this conference,” Hellige said. “Unfortunately, we didn't get to win tonight. But I think we learned a lot about ourselves.”
Hayes led Central Lee with 23 points. Kaden Swan had 15 points, and Carson Morrison had 11.
Rung had 23 points for Holy Trinity. Ragar had 19.