By: Alex Benzegala, alexb@977thebolt.com
Clarion, IA – 1st Place in the North Central Conference was on the line in Clarion on Friday Night in boys basketball action and those who paid the $5 admission got their money’s worth as the Humboldt Wildcats edged the Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Cowboys in 68-62 in Overtime. The Wildcats raced to an early lead and led 32-30 at halftime. The Cowboys though dominated the early part of the third quarter and raced to a 10 point lead at the 3:00 mark of the 3rd. But Humboldt would storm back with a run of their own with plays like this.
Right after the that moment clearly swayed with the Wildcats after this shot.
Humboldt trailed by 2 points entering the 4th and the game was even all 4th quarter and in the final 30 seconds of regulation Humboldt took the lead.
The Cowboys star Connor State got fouled inside 15 seconds to play and hit one of two free throws to tie the game, and then Humboldt missed a 3 pointer at the buzzer to send it into overtime.
In overtime, it was the Will Orness show, as the Junior hit this big shot to give the Wildcats the lead for good.
Orness would ice the game on the free line hitting 3 more free throws late to preserve the win, he finished with 22 points. With the the victory, Humboldt took over 1st place in the North Central Conference with a 12-1 record in the NCC and 16-1 record overall.