Comeback Cardinals improve to 2-0 with win over Joburg
Joe O’Bradovich scored 13 points, and Carlos Bautista added 11, Tuesday as the Onaway High School varsity boys’ basketball team defeated visiting Johannesburg-Lewiston, 47-40, in overtime.
The win improved the Cardinals to 2-0 (1-0 Ski Valley Conference), and marked the second time in as many games that the Cards earned a victory after trailing midway through the fourth period.
OHS overcame a six-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Atlanta in last week’s opener. On Tuesday, the Red Birds trailed their guests by five in the fourth.
The game was one of spurts for both teams, none being bigger than the 9-0 run the Cards went on to finish the game, turning a two-point OT deficit into a seven-point win.
After Bautista scored the game’s first basket, J-L went on a 7-0 run to take a 7-2 lead. The Red Birds then scored 14 unanswered points to lead 10-7 after one period and 16-7 midway through period two.
At that point, it appeared Onaway was in control, but Joburg went on a 13-0 run to take a 20-16 lead into halftime. J-L stretched that lead to as many as eight in the third period before OHS cut it to four, 30-26, heading into the fourth.
The Cards trailed 36-31 with less than four minutes left in regulation. O’Bradovich scored on an offensive rebound, and Bautista scored inside and added a free throw to tie things up at 36.
A pair of J-L free throws put the visiting team back on top, 38-36, but Jason Sigsby scored on an offensive rebound to tie things at 38 apiece with 35 seconds left.
A potential game-winning basket by Joburg was waived off by the officials, who ruled that the ball left the shooter’s hand after the buzzer, keeping Onaway alive and bringing about overtime.
J-L hit a pair of free throws to lead, 40-38, early in the extra frame, but it was all Onaway after that, in large part due to the efforts of Rasheed Porter.
The junior hit a jumper that tied the game at 40, forced a J-L turnover, fed O’Bradovich down low for a bucket that put the Cards’ up 42-40, then scored on an offensive rebound to build the lead to 44-40.
At that point, only 45 seconds remained in OT. Sigsby connected on three of four free throws down the stretch to ice thin
Earlier in the evening, the OHS JV began what would become a Cardinal sweep with a 72-52 win over its Joburg counterpart. Onaway led 26-12 after one period, 40-19 at the half, and 56-38 through three frames.
Joe Sigsby and Cody Morell scored 14 points apiece, Bradley Boser scored 12 points, Patrick Dunn and Raymond Self each scored 10, and JT Pasella scored seven as the JV improved to 2-0.
The Onaway boys, scheduled to travel to Gaylord St. Mary yesterday (Thursday), will host Central Lake on Tuesday in their final action before the holiday break.