Wildcats outlast Centralia in 2OT on Senior Night

MARION -- The old guys got it started and the young ones finished it.
Marion's three seniors -- Hunter Campbell, Mitchell Jackson and Boston Ziegler -- all scored in the opening minutes to help the Wildcats push out to a 10-0 lead against Centralia on Senior Night at Cuss Wilson Gymnasium.
What seemed like nine hours later, Marion's juniors and a freshman led the charge as the Wildcats outlasted Centralia for a 67-61 win in double-overtime Friday night to snap a 26-game losing skid against the Orphans.
Marion is now 18-12 overall and finished 3-7 in the South Seven Conference with wins in six of the last seven games, a stretch that goes back to just after a loss at Centralia.
Twenty-six straight losses. Marion coach Gus Gillespie said it wasn't a topic of discussion.
"I didn't even talk about that because that's beyond my control," Gillespie said. "I told our kids what we've got to do is start winning South Seven games. When we got back from Centralia when we played there on that Tuesday night, I think things changed. Our mindset changed. How we play changed.
"From that point on, we've been very competitive in the South Seven. We've won three games that we lost in the first go-round and I'm proud of our kids."
Centralia's current coach, Lee Bennett, was 23-0 against Marion before Friday night's game. The Orphans (13-14) would've clinched a share of the South Seven title with Mt. Vernon and Belleville Althoff with a victory.
It didn't happen against the re-energized Wildcats.
"I told our team after the game if this had been a month ago we would've lost three different times," Gillespie said. "So we've gotten better and hopefully that can continue on."
Marion looked like it might romp past the Orphans in the early going. Campbell scored the first basket, then Jackson drilled a 3-pointer and collected a sweet assist to Jackson Connor before Ziegler splashed a trey to make it 10-0.
Another basket from Campbell made it 16-4 early in the second quarter. And after the Orphans made their first comeback rally to get within a point in the third quarter, Jackson knocked in three straight 3-pointers to keep Marion ahead.
"I'm proud of our seniors," Gillespie said. "They all stepped up and made crucial big plays on Senior Night."
Centralia kept fighting and eventually took the lead at 48-47 with 2:56 left after a 3-pointer from Crue Walker and two free throws by Jamie Long. After another free throw from Long, the Wildcats tied it on a drive by Connor with 1:21 remaining and the game went to overtime after misses by Centralia's Tyree Westbrook and Mason Blakemore in the final seconds.
The lead changed sides five times in the first overtime, with Marion getting baskets from juniors Brett Lewis and Connor -- and a three-point play by Ziegler -- before a shot by Blakemore with 1:11 left proved to be the final points.
A lot happened in the final 19.2 seconds, but it boiled down to Blakemore getting off a 3-pointer at the buzzer that went over the backboard.
In the second extra four-minute period, Blakemore put the Orphans up first by splitting two free throws, then Lewis drilled two of his own. After a Centralia miss, Ziegler scored and freshman Rayzhaun Bardo made two tosses after a rebound to make it 62-57 with 1:44 remaining.
Walker hit a 3-pointer to cut Marion's lead to two and Connor missed a baseline shot with a minute left, but Ziegler blocked a shot on Centralia's end and Lewis converted a huge three-point play with 37 ticks on the clock to push the lead back to five at 65-60.
Centralia's Preston Johannes, whose eight points in the third quarter helped get the Orphans back in the game, split two free throws with 26.8 left and Marion turned the ball over but Bryan Meskil missed a layup attempt and Connor iced it with two freebies with 4.7 on the clock.
The Wildcats made all eight of their free throws in the overtime periods and finished 19 of 24 from the stripe for the game.
Ziegler led the scoring with 16 points and Lewis had 13, with seven coming in the overtimes. Jackson had 12 and both Connor and Bardo had nine apiece. Campbell netted nine in his final home game. Frankie Horner chipped in a bucket in addition to other intangibles.
Johannes led Centralia with 15 points. Long had 12 and both Walker and Blakemore had nine.
"A lot of games get lost in the memory bank; this game will not," Gillespie said. "Those seniors and the guys that played on this team tonight will remember a double-overtime win at home against Centralia."
Marion begins postseason play Monday night at the Massac County 3A Regional against Carterville at 7:30 p.m. following Murphysboro against the host Patriots at 6 p.m.
The winner of Murphysboro and Massac advances to face Carbondale in the semifinals on Tuesday after the winner of Marion and Carterville takes on Mascoutah at 6 p.m.