By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
SPRING GARDEN – Hearts are sometimes broken on Valentine’s Day, but for the Spring Garden Panthers, heartbreak happened a week early.
The Skyline Vikings ended Spring Garden’s basketball season on Saturday in Class 1A sub-regional action at Dale Welsh Gymnasium. They rallied from an early 13-point deficit to force overtime, but the game wasn’t settled until double overtime, when junior guard Brody Berninger sank a 3-pointer with 2:29 remaining to give Skyline the lead for good.
The Vikings then went on to make 9-of-11 free throws down the stretch, including a 6-of-8 performance from senior post Will Avans, in a 67-58 victory that sends No. 4 Skyline (22-7) back to the Northeast Regional at Jacksonville State University’s Pete Mathews Coliseum. They’ll take on Wadley in the regional semifinals on Tuesday.
Top-ranked Spring Garden’s season ends at 29-1.
It’s the second straight year the Vikings have broken Panther hearts. Spring Garden lost to Skyline in last year’s Class 1A Northeast Regional final 58-51, which clinched just the second Final Four berth in Viking boys basketball history.
“They’re a good team,” Spring Garden coach Levi Hatcher said. “You’ve got to be very technically sound, and we were for the majority of the game. It’s just a few little things that, as soon as we made a little error, they just capitalized on it.”
“I’m heartbroken for them,” Skyline coach Craig McGill said. “Neither team should’ve lost that game. I thought they were as good as they were last year. Their coaches are some of the best coaches in the state, and I hate it for them, but I am happy for my guys. I’m happy for my community. Our community loves going there (to JSU). Our school loves playing there. We just found a way to win.”
Spring Garden couldn’t have asked for a much better start on Saturday. The Panthers jumped out to a 13-point advantage by the end of the first quarter, but then the Vikings slowly began to creep back into the game.
It wasn’t until 1:03 remaining that Skyline took its first lead. Freshman guard Jacob Cloud canned a 3-pointer and was also fouled on the play, sending him to the line for a bonus free throw. Cloud connected on the extra shot to give the Vikings a 47-46 advantage. He led Skyline with 24 points, including three 3-pointers.
“We know he’s a really good shooter. We just left him,” Hatcher said. “We went I think to double the corner. The ball just always seems to find that one guy. That’s what happened. We know not to leave 2 (Cloud), but we saw an opportunity to trap in the corner. We took it and got burned on it.”
Spring Garden senior forward John Welsh helped the Panthers regain the lead at 49-47 with a basket-and-one with 19.2 seconds left in regulation, but Avans made the game-tying bucket with 4.1 seconds to go to force the first overtime.
Welsh hit 2-of-4 free throws to open the second overtime’s scoring, giving the Panthers a 51-49 edge, but Cloud tied the game at 51 on a layup with 1:05 remaining.
Avans, who finished with 23 points, gave the Vikings the lead again on a basket with 45.9 seconds, but two more Welsh free throws with 18.2 seconds to go forced the second overtime with the two teams tied at 53.
That set the stage for Berninger’s clutch trey which gave Skyline a 56-53 lead, a lead the Vikings wouldn’t relinquish.
Following a basket-and-one by Kristian King at the 2:04 mark, Skyline stretched its lead to six at 59-53.
Jacob Welsh brought Spring Garden back within four at 59-55 on a basket inside the paint with 1:44 on the clock, but disaster struck the Panthers when John Welsh picked up his fifth foul with 1:09 remaining. Following John Welsh fouling out, the Vikings were sent to the free-throw line for 10 shots down the stretch, with Avans making 6 of his 8 attempts. Scott York made the Vikings’ final two shots from the charity stripe with 9.4 seconds left.
“That was huge. That was the game,” McGill said of John Welsh fouling out. “That dude is a stud. We keyed in on him and he still had (23 points). He’s a super basketball player, super athlete. He’s a competitor. We’re just lucky to get out of here with a win.”
King and Berninger had nine and eight points respectively for the Vikings. York finished with five points.
Jacob Welsh added 12 points for the Panthers, including a pair of 3-pointers. Jaylen Brown rang for eight points. Noah Barber and Connor Bates sank a pair of treys and finished with six points apiece.
“They didn’t quit,” Hatcher said. “Our guys know we’re never out of a game until the game’s over. They’re not willing to accept the game is over at any point in time. They are willing to fight until the horn goes off. That’s what they did. They fought through the fourth quarter, through both overtimes, but we just come up a little bit short.”
