Given a second life by Teshaun Steele, Worcester North took full advantage.
Trailing Xaverian by two with 1.6 seconds remaining, Steele knocked down two free throws to send the game to overtime. In the extra frame, Amir Jenkins scored eight of his 14 points to lead No. 1 Worcester North to a 60-52 win over the No. 4 Hawks in the Div. 1 boys basketball state semifinals on Wednesday night at UMass Boston.
The Polar Bears (23-0) have now won 44 consecutive games. They will look to defend their Div. 1 title against No. 3 Franklin on Sunday at 6 p.m. at the Tsongas Center in Lowell.
“Our kids always believed, they never gave up,” Worcester North coach Al Pettway said. “I have this gold coin I have kept in my pocket with me the whole time. I took it out when Teshaun was at the line and he hit two. Then we had enough in the extra time.”
Xaverian (17-7) trailed 39-31 going into the fourth quarter but slowly chipped away. Lorenzo Carrara scored eight points, including a triple that gave Xaverian its first lead of the game, as part of a 13-4 run that put the Hawks up 44-43 with 2:20 left. After Steele split a pair to tie the game, Ty Cheney hit a turnaround jumper at the shot clock buzzer to give the Hawks a 46-44 lead with 20 seconds left.
Trailing by two with under two seconds left, Steele cut to the basket on an under the basket set and got fouled. The forward knocked down both in front of over 1,500 fans to send the game to overtime.
The overtime was dominated by the Polar Bears. Jaydon Kusi-Sarkodie hit a triple and Khari Bryan finished at the rim to put the Polar Bears up five. Then Jenkins took control by scoring eight consecutive points to put North on top 57-46 with less than a minute to play.
“Credit to Xaverian, they could not have played any better,” Pettway said. “I am just thankful we had enough in us to finish this out.”
On the heels of 16 combined points from forwards Joe Okla and Steele, Worcester North took a 30-19 lead into the locker room. The Hawks, relying on their 1-3-1 and 2-3 zone combinations, forced the Polar Bears into outside shots in the second half, limiting them to 16 points over the third and fourth quarter to get back in the game.
“I am really proud of our kids,” Xaverian coach Ryan Sheehan said. “Knowing who we were playing and knowing it was a tall task. Giving ourselves a chance to win with a couple seconds left is all we could have asked for. Credit to Worcester North, they came out in overtime and it was like the undertaker. They knew they had us.”
