DEFIANCE – The thrill of victory. The agony of defeat.
Two phrases that have been heard in the sports world for a long time definitely rang true Friday night at Defiance High School.
Unfortunately, for Antwerp, it was the Archers who felt the agony of defeat as Edgerton posted a 44-43 overtime win over the Archers in the Division IV boys sectional championship at the home of the Bulldogs.
Tied at 34-34 at the end of regulation, the Bulldogs outscored Antwerp 10-9 in the extra session to pick up the victory and claim a berth in Division IV district tournament action.
The Archers led 7-2 at the end of one quarter but Edgerton came back, outscoring the blue and white 17-11 in the second stanza to seize a 19-18 halftime advantage.
Antwerp took back the lead in the third, picking up nine points to Edgerton’s seven as the Archers grabbed a 27-26 lead at the end of three periods.
The Bulldogs, though, tied the game by knotting the game at 34-34 at the end of regulation.
Gannon Ripke paced Edgerton with a dozen points and Clayton Flegal chipped in nine.
Logan Showalter (eight), Brayton Cape (seven), Jaron Cape (six) and Colin Gary (two) also scored for the Bulldogs, who improved to 13-10.
Seven seniors wrapped up their careers in an Archer uniform. Keaton Altimus, Cole Seslar, Luke Brewer, Brayton Stuckey, Jake Ryan, Austin Chirgwin and Ty Rebber all put on the blue and white basketball uniform for the final time on Friday night.
Seslar topped all Archers in scoring with 11 points while Jayvin Landers chipped in ten markers.
Rebber added seven points followed by Austin Lichty (six), Brewer (five) and Altimus (four).
One of the big differences in the game was at the free throw line where Edgerton hit 12 of 17 attempts (71 percent) compared to Antwerp’s 4 of 14 (29 percent).
The Archers won the battle of the boards, 29-20, but also committed more turnovers with 16 compared to Edgerton’s nine.
