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KENT, Ohio– Sometimes words can’t explain the feeling.
At the moment, you’re left speechless and that was the case for Walsh Jesuit senior Zach Halligan.
After forcing overtime with a buzzer-beating layup, the Warriors were able to squeak past the Bulldogs, 63-61, advancing to the regional final Friday night.
“It’s crazy, I’m just speechless,” Halligan said trying to catch his breath. “You don’t get many games like that and it’s the regional semifinals.”
FINAL: @WalshJesuitMBB defeats @StowBoysHoops 63-61, advancing to the regional final Friday night! @SportsKee1 https://t.co/uqStkEfKHw. pic.twitter.com/VN15SqsTRA
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 9, 2023
Before his team was able to celebrate, they had to force overtime. With the Bulldogs leading 54-52 with just under three seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Warriors had one last chance to keep their season alive.
Halligan was able to secure the ball under the rim and put up a layup with time expiring to force overtime, swiftly shifting the momentum of the game, and giving the Warriors another chance.
Zach Hallogan sends the game to OVERTIME. 54-54 all in Kent @SportsKee1 @ZachHalligan @WalshJesuitMBB pic.twitter.com/Bt0oN5iWMh
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 9, 2023
“I don’t even know what to say,” Halligan said after making the game-tying bucket to force overtime. “We worked on it all year, we haven’t used that play all year…it just worked, IDK it was crazy.”
“You just got to keep going…you just got to keep going,” Walsh Jesuit head coach Kevin Byrne said about the way his team was able to fight back all throughout the second half and overtime. “We got a quick turnaround now…we’ll be here Friday and we’ll do the best we can.”
The Bulldogs maintained a lead for the majority of the fourth quarter and when it got under two minutes, players like Halligan, Keith Rivers and Tyler Bell stepped up.
It’s coming down to the wire in Kent!
Stow leads 51-48, 1:47 left to play in the 4th Q. @SportsKee1 pic.twitter.com/4PhIfBAvp9— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 9, 2023
He even opened up overtime scoring the first seven points for his team. The team scored 10 total points in the extra period and after Halligan was able to force overtime, that kind of gave his team a little bit of a second wind and all the confidence moving forward.
“I think as soon as Zach made that we were all confident we were going to win,” Tyler Bell said. “We didn’t want to go home. It was a big game, they got us last year and we just didn’t want to go home.”
These two teams met back on Dec. 20, where the Bulldogs were able to hang on to a 45-41 win on its home court. Something was different about Wednesday night, knowing that feeling still stuck with the entire Walsh Jesuit team. Revenge was all on their mind and it just made the win that much sweeter.
“Rebounding was our key and our effort and energy tonight, we knew we had to bring it and that’s what we did,” Halligan said. “It’s our get-back game. We knew we had to get them and we knew we weren’t going to lose this game.”
For the game, Halligan and Bell led the way with 16 points each. Ruel Tomlinson and Keith Rivers rounded out the scoring with nine points each during the win. Everyone contributed in their own ways, using the fuel from last year during the overtime stretch.
“It feels good, it feels really good and seeing some of my guys crying last year hurt a lot,” Rivers said about getting revenge on the Bulldogs this time around. “I didn’t want to be the one crying tonight.”
For the Bulldogs, Reece Raymond-Smith contributed in a big way, scoring 24 points while doing everything he can to keep his team alive in the critical minutes of the game. AJ Pestello and Nick Timberlake each had 13 points during the loss.
Up next for the Warriors is another familiar opponent; Archbishop Hoban.
“It’s another exciting entry in the Walsh-Hoban journal,” coach Byrne said.
