by Zachary Lohn
MTN Sports Reporter
February 27, 2021
The Community Vikings defeated the Stewart County Rebels in a close 57-50 overtime thriller on Saturday night. In the final seconds of regulation, Will Reed came off of a screen and gets called for a charge. This gave the Rebels a chance for the rare four seed defeating a one seed victory in the regional tournament.
With 5.2 seconds left, Stewart County drew up a play using leading scorer Landon Dennis as a decoy. The play worked to perfection, but the Rebels were not able to put in the two-footer. The game then went into overtime.
After trading baskets throughout overtime, Stewart County was assessed a technical foul with under 20 seconds left. With the score 51-50, a Rebels defender reached and slapped the ball away from a Vikings defender who was trying to throw the ball in from a side-out resulting in the technical. Will Reed stepped up to the line and hit both of the free throws to put the Vikings up by 3. Reed then hit 4 straight free throws to ice the game.
Will Reed and Jackson Bailey both scored 14 to lead the Vikings in scoring. Reed scored 6 of his 14 points from the foul line in the final 20 seconds of overtime.
Landon Dennis lead the Rebels in scoring with 23 points including a buzzer beater going into halftime from just inside the three point line.
The Vikings play again on Tuesday night at home against Marshall County for a chance to go to sectionals. These two teams finished first and second in the district respectively in the
regular season. This will be the third time that they have met, and they have split the previous two games.