Chaney upends Fitch on Allen's buzzer shot

Poland defeated Boardman 55-49 in overtime in the nightcap.
By Chuck Housteau
Vindicator Correspondent
AUSTINTOWN -- The opening night of the Austintown Fitch Christmas Tournament produced two exciting games that went down to the wire and beyond.
Chaney's Patrick Allen put in a rebound shot at the buzzer to give the Cowboys their first win of the season against the host Austintown Fitch Falcons 72-71 in the opener while Poland needed overtime to put away the Boardman Spartans 55-49 in the nightcap.
The tournament concludes Thursday night when Boardman plays Chaney at 6:30 p.m. and Poland tangles with Fitch in the second game.
Chaney's Allen came off the bench late in the contest when the Cowboys lost two starters to foul trouble to nail the game-winning shot after a missed shot attempt by Antonio Fitzgerald.
Limited roster
Chaney (1-7) was playing with only eight players due to injuries and the flu bug yet hung together to pull off the stunning victory.
"It feels good to finally get our first win," said Fitzgerald who scored a game-high 31 points. "We've had a couple close games and we knew we had to come out here and win this game."
Fitzgerald tried to make the game-winning basket after the Falcons took a 71-70 lead on a free throw by Thomas Day with 9.6 seconds left.
"I tried to look for a clearout because I was feeling it," Fitzgerald said of the game-winning play. "I was trying to go to the basket and get a foul but they didn't foul me. Luckily Pat [Allen] grabbed the rebound and hit the game-winning shot."
The game was a back-and-forth contest the entire second half after the Cowboys got off to a fast first quarter start and led by five, 36-31 at halftime.
In foul trouble
Fitzgerald scored 13 points in the first quarter and had 19 by halftime but battled foul trouble the entire second half.
Fitch stayed close in the first half behind the strong shooting of Tom Hahn and James Wallace.
Hahn scored 11 of his 15 points and Wallace added 10 of his 25 in the first two periods.
Fitch (1-6) finally tied the game at 39-39 on a Jon Stockman bucket and the race to the finish was on.
Wallace and Keane Boyd were the go-to guys for Fitch down the stretch while Fitzgerald and Kory Jackson provided much of the Chaney offense.
Falcons held late lead
The Falcons took a five-point lead 69-64 with 55 seconds left on a Wallace basket but Fitch couldn't put the game away when they went cold at the foul line in the final minute.
The Falcons made just 9 of 18 free throws in the fourth quarter.
"We didn't make our free throws down the stretch," Fitch coach Roger Day said. "Fate has been very cruel to us in the last week or so.
"We only played three quarters tonight," added Day. "We got off to a bad first quarter and Chaney came to play and they played hard the entire game."
Fitch also had two other players score in double figures. Boyd scored 12 points while Stockman chipped in with 11.
Jackson finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds for Chaney while Sir Franklin also tallied 11 points.
"I'm just happy for our kids," said Chaney coach Bernard Bohla. "They got their first win. We played four solid quarters and made our shots.
"We put ourselves in a position to win and we were able to make a clutch basket at the buzzer."
Bulldogs pull out win
In the nightcap, Poland (3-2) outscored Boardman 12-6 in overtime to grab the win against the Spartans.
Poland's guard tandem of Chris Lovell, Anthony DeFelice and Charlie Carchedi starred in the extra session scoring 10 of the 12 points for the Bulldogs.
The Spartans (4-4) forced the overtime period when Jon Kocon split the Poland defense and went untouched to the basket to score with seven seconds remaining in the game.
Lovell raced downcourt for the Bulldogs but missed a shot at the buzzer and regulation ended tied at 43-43.
Lovell finished with 13 points while DeFelice scored 13 and Carchedi nine.
Controlled the boards
Poland's inside game controlled the boards as Dan Bennett, Lou Coppola and Dom Schneider combined to grab 29 rebounds.
The Spartans were led by Kocon with 14 points while Eric Johnson had eight points.
Poland won the game at the foul line where they connected on 23-37 free throws and made 8 of 12 in overtime. Boardman was just 6 of 11 from the line for the game.