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Lakeview boys outlast Brookfield in OT
Jatise Garrison’s late layup helped lift the Bulldogs
By Ryan Buck
CORTLAND
The Lakeview boys basketball team knocked off visiting Brookfield Monday in the nightcap of the Bulldogs’ Holiday Classic.
Blindly.
After Brookfield guard Davon Sims sent the game to overtime and Lakeview lost another lead late in overtime thanks to a steal and layup from Warriors guard Marc Kraml, Bulldogs forward Chris Muir’s no-look pass on the ensuing rush up-court found teammate Jatise Garrison for an open layup and an eventual 57-53 victory.
The sequence — where Muir dribbled into the lane and fed his childhood teammate Garrison with a chest pass right near the basket — gave Lakeview a 55-53 lead with 13.7 seconds left in overtime.
“We knew we had to get a fast bucket and make it seem like it was evened up,” said Garrison, a sophomore who moments earlier watched Kraml steal the ball at halfcourt off an errant pass and drive to the opposite end for an easy layup with 30 seconds left. “We both knew it was going to be open and [Muir] threw the pass. We practice those situations all the time in practice.
“We’re used to the pressure.”
Said Brookfield coach Bill Kovach, “I think that was just a good decision. We had one guy back, they got us into a two-on-one and they made the right play.”
Sims again had the ball in his hands for a last possession look when Brookfield came out of a timeout, but his drive to his left and shot attempt was thwarted by Muir. Ryan Pishotti claimed the rebound and made one of two free throws after being fouled with 4.4 seconds left.
The Brookfield bench was called for a technical foul after calling a timeout it did not have.
Tim Roberts’ two free throws put the game out of reach.
Garrison and Muir, both sophomores, have a sixth sense for each other’s whereabouts, says Lakeview coach Larry Herrholtz.
“They’ve been playing with each other since they were kids,” he said. “I do believe that they have a certain signal that gives them a sense of what’s going on. They’re very talented young basketball players and we’re very fortunate to have them playing as hard as they are and as well as they are right now.”
The intense overtime was a fitting end to a wild second half. Brookfield led by as many as five points early in the fourth quarter until a 13-4 Lakeview run, highlighted by a textbook inbounds play between Garrison and Chris Romano gave Lakeview a 44-39 lead with 1:30 left.
Kraml drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to bring Brookfield to 47-44 with 37.9 seconds to play. After a missed one-and-one trip to the foul line for Lakeview, Sims — who struggled for much of the evening offensively — calmly knocked down a straight-on 3-pointer with 5 seconds to play in the fourth quarter.
A disjointed Lakeview possession saw Roberts’ 3-point shot rattle out, setting up the eventful overtime period.
Brookfield, missing starting point guard Brian Hiner with an illness, was immediately playing from behind in the overtime.
“I think our heads weren’t in the game tonight,” said Kovach. “We weren’t ready to play. Our decision-making on offense wasn’t what it should be.”
Muir finished with a team-high 15 points while Nate Jordan scored 19 points for Brookfield.