Sims City
JAMES SIMS - as well as other players, cheerleaders and onlookers - watches his 3-point shot from the corner at the end of the Three Rivers Conference Tournament championship. The shot went in to give the Eagles a 50-49 victory against Okarche. [Photo by
The dream scenario was in play for Okarche.
In the first Three Rivers Conference Tournament the school has been able to host on its home court, Okarche was a mere seconds away from completing the championship sweep.
Then James Sims crashed the party.
Hennessey’s junior nailed a 3-pointer from the corner as the buzzer sounded on Saturday to lift the top-seeded Eagles past Okarche 50-49 in the boys title game.
“It was pretty wild,” said Hennessey coach Brady Page of the game that included five ties and 11 lead changes.
The last change was the most dramatic.
Okarche led 49-47 thanks to Easton Roby’s jumper in the lane with about 1:10 to play.
After the Eagles failed to convert on their end, the Warriors chewed 40 seconds off the clock before coach Aaron West called a timeout with 16 seconds left.
Hunter Mueggenborg was fouled two seconds later and had an opportunity to extend the lead, but missed the front end of a one-and-one.
Page called his final timeout with 6.5 seconds remaining.
The Eagles attempted to inbound the ball to Sims, but it was pushed back out of bounds.
The Okarche contingent - on the court, on the sideline and in the stands - felt it went off Sims.
After a brief discussion, the referees disagreed and awarded the ball back to Hennessey.
Sims inbounded the ball from the corner of the court to Layton Choate, who took a dribble and fed it back to Sims.
He set his feet and drained the game winner.
West wouldn’t bite when asked about the call in the waning seconds.
“That’s life. That’s adversity,” he said. “If we would have executed our game plan and hit our free throws down the stretch, we wouldn’t have been in that situation.”
The game was tied with about 3:00 to play when Jett Mueggenborg knocked down a 3-pointer while being fouled. Mueggenborg made the ensuing free throw for a 47-43 Okarche lead.
However, the Warriors were 0 for 3 from the line the rest of the way, all with a chance to add to a lead.
For the game, the Warriors were a paltry 21 percent (3 of 14) from the charity stripe.
“If we want to be a championship team, we have to knock those down,” said West, whose team was ranked No. 6 in Class A and riding a 13-game win streak entering the night.
Hennessey’s win was its seventh in a row. The Eagles were ranked fourth in 2A and won the tournament for the first time since 2018, which was its second straight.
The game was tied at 25-all at halftime and Hennessey led 35-34 after three quarters.
After Mueggenborg put the Warriors up by four, Choate quickly answered on the other end.
Jael Torres then tied the game with a pair of free throws with 2:00 to play.
Roby gave Okarche its final lead less than a minute later.
He and Wyatt Pinkerton scored 10 apiece for Okarche. Jett Mueggenborg led the Warriors (13-2) with 12 points.
Torres scored 22 points on 10 of 15 shooting for Hennessey. He added five rebounds and four blocks.
Sims finished with 13 and Choate 10.
The Eagles were 9-2 after the victory.
Page said the back-andforth game should pay dividends down the road for his team.
“They’re tough to get through, but once they’re finishedyouappreciatethem more,” he said. “Okarche’s a good team and a game like that is good to present us with big-game experience and pressure situations.”
Hennessey’s title snapped a four-year run of Cashion hoisting the championship trophy.
The Eagles put an end to that with a 46-32 victory over the Wildcats in Friday’s semifinal.
Cashion led 21-15 at the break, but the Eagles outscored their foe 31-11 in the second half.
Sims scored 16 in the victory.
Cashion was led by Jackson Vandruff’s 10 points.
The loss snapped a fourgame win streak by Cashion, which then saw its losing streak pushed to two with a 48-29 loss to Fairview in the third-place game.
Cashion (6-4) was just 10 of 48 (20 percent) for the game. Chance Acord scored six to lead the team.
Okarche sent Fairview into the consolation bracket by beating the Yellowjackets 79-43 in the semis.
Jett Mueggenborg had 18 points and 11 boards in the win.
Roby added 17 and Pinkerton 15.
Crescent was able to salvage a win in the tournament. After dropping a 47-39 decision to Watonga in the consolation semifinals, the Tigers (5-5) beat Thomas 70-60 in the seventh- place game.