Jarius Ward took some extra steps and Lima Senior had to take an extra four minutes to beat Findlay 56-53 in overtime in boys basketball on Tuesday night.
Ward, who led Lima Senior with 26 points, scored his 1,000th career point on a reverse lay-up 15 seconds into the game.
After being handed the ball in a brief ceremony at midcourt, he sprinted up the bleacher steps to give the ball to his mother.
“She’s probably going to frame it or something,” Ward said.
The Spartans’ win turned into something worthy of being framed after Findlay came from eight points down with four minutes left in regulation to send the game into overtime.
Lima Senior had to survive a Findlay shot at the end of regulation that would have won the game and a 3-point attempt just before the buzzer in overtime that would have sent it into a second overtime.
“I told them, ‘Great game,’ That was a great game for us because we understand how disciplined a team Findlay is. That’s one of the teams I really respect,” Lima Senior coach Quincey Simpson said about his message to his team after the game.
Lima Senior and Findlay came into the game as two of the hottest teams in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference.
Findlay (14-6, 8-4 TRAC) had won seven games in a row and eight of its last nine before Tuesday night. Lima Senior (14-6, 8-5 TRAC) extended its winning streak to five games and has won nine of its last 10 games.
Lima Senior jumped out to a 19-11 lead after one quarter and was up by four points, 27-23, at halftime.
The Spartans’ lead grew to 12 points, 35-23, three minutes into the second half but Findlay repeated the pattern of the first half and was within five points, 40-35, after three quarters.
Lima Senior led 45-37 with four minutes left in regulation but a pair of 3-pointers by Ryan Roth got the Trojans back into the game and another 3-pointer by Kyle Nunn with 53 seconds to play tied it.
In the overtime, Findlay led twice, but two free throws by Jaleel King with 28 seconds to play and two more by Ward with six seconds on the clock gave the Spartans the win.
“They knocked down some big shots. And our guys didn’t pay attention to detail. Our guys were going under ball screens and they took advantage of it,” Simpson said.
Ward said, “That was a tough team. They’re never going to beat themselves so we definitely had to beat them. It showed what our guys are made of that we pulled out the win.”
Findlay made its second-half comeback without Drew Hapner, its second-leading scorer at 14 points a game and its top rebounder at eight per game. Hapner suffered a hand injury three minutes into the second half and did not play after that.
Findlay won 67-56 the first time the two teams played this season on Jan. 6.
The Trojans’ ability to connect on 3-pointers was big in that game when they hit eight in the first half and nine overall. They nearly matched that total on Tuesday night with eight buckets from behind the 3-point line.
It was almost nine when Roth’s long 3-point attempt at the end of overtime hit the rim and bounced off.
When it didn’t go in, Lima Senior could celebrate the win. And Ward could think about joining the list of 1,000-point scorers.
The 6-foot, 2-inch senior guard said he didn’t know exactly how close he was to 1,000 until last week.
“Friday on the way to Fremont, I called my high school coach from my freshman year, because I went to Reynoldsburg then, and I asked him for my stats. He sent them to me and we added them up,” Ward said.
Simpson said, “He has worked hard. People didn’t really understand how good he is until this year. With those guys I had last year he was kind of a role guy but he has been this player his whole career.
“His 1,000th points truly means something to him and to me,” he said.
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