Boys basketball: St. Bede finishes strong in OT to beat Putnam County

PERU - After a wild finish to regulation, the Putnam County boys basketball team struck first in overtime.

Orlando Harris drove for a bucket on the Panthers’ first possession and Owen Saepharn hit a free throw to give PC a three-point lead.

However, it was all St. Bede from there.

The Bruins scored on their final six possessions of the extra session, including hitting 8 of 9 free throws, to pull out a 59-52 victory in a Tri-County Conference game.

“We’re ecstatic,” St. Bede coach Brian Hanson said. “Our guys have been busting their butts in practice and it was just really good to see it all come together on the floor. We beat PC in a close one in the Marquette tournament. We knew it was going to be a tough game.”

After the Panthers went up 50-47 in overtime, St. Bede’s Mason Ross scored on a putback and was fouled, which began to shift the momentum.

Alex Ankiewicz hit a pair of free throws before Kaden Newman scored on a layup off an assist from Jake Migliorini as the Bruins quickly pushed the ball up court after a defensive rebound.

In the final minute, Kaden Nauman made 4 of 4 free throws and Ankiewicz hit two more to help the Bruins seal the win.

“I think it was the defensive end,” Hanson said. “We just dug in enough to where when we came back we had a head of steam on offense and we didn’t have to go straight into the teeth of the defense every time and guys just made shots.

“We were 3 of 8 (on free throws) at half, so to come in there late in the game and overtime in a pressure situation, that was huge to go 8 for 9.”

The Bruins had to rally in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

Putnam County closed the third quarter on a 13-0 run and led 37-31 going into the final eight minutes. The Panthers led by as many as seven points in the fourth before Newman stepped up for St. Bede.

Newman sank back-to-back 3-pointers to pull the Bruins within two, then drove for a bucket on the next possession to close within two again.

Nauman stole the ball but the Bruins turned it over.

However, Nauman stole the ensuing inbounds pass and kicked it to Newman for his third 3 in the final 2:31 to give the Bruins a 47-46 lead with 20.6 seconds left.

“Definitely late in the game there was a little bit of pressure,” Newman said. “But I found a rhythm so I felt like I could keep shooting. I was getting open looks from my teammates. We were making good plays and good passes, so I knew if I could get myself in a good spot I could make a shot.”

The Panthers tied it at 47 when Saepharn split a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left. PC got two shots off after the missed free throw but couldn’t get one to fall.

“We got down a little bit and we battled back,” PC coach Harold Fay said. “We put ourselves in position to get through it. I don’t know if it’s lack of experience at being at that point. That’s probably on me. We definitely had our opportunities, but we just came up short tonight.”

St. Bede led 14-10 after the first quarter and 24-19 at halftime before extending the advantage to 31-24 with 4:34 left in the third.

Two 3-pointers by Drew Tallani kickstarted the Panthers’ 13-0 run to end the third.

“They switched to man to man and we were able to take advantage of some areas there and that helped,” Fay said.

Newman finished with 19 points for St. Bede (5-15, 1-2 TCC), while Ankiewicz had 14 points.

Saepharn scored a game-high 20 points for the Panthers (3-16, 0-4).