Staff photo / Preston Byers Campbell's David Moore goes up for a shot, while being defended by two Newton Falls players on Friday night.

NEWTON FALLS — The Newton Falls and Campbell Memorial boys basketball teams finished their regular seasons off with a bang Friday, with the Tigers surviving a ferocious comeback in a 50-45 overtime home win.

Newton Falls dominated most of the first 20 minutes of Friday’s game and built a lead as large as 16 in the third quarter. In the final three minutes of the third quarter, however, the team’s offense went ice cold, allowing Campbell to mount a 9-0 run to end the quarter.

The Tigers’ offense showed some life to begin the fourth and held a nine-point advantage with five minutes remaining in regulation. But the final five minutes belonged to the Red Devils, who completely took over the game.

Falls failed to score a single point in the final five minutes, as Campbell, led by David Moore, scored nine unanswered, including a pair of free throws with 8.6 seconds to go, to tie the game. Jabriel Rufai’s desperate heave at the buzzer sailed wide right, assuring overtime.

In the extra five-minute period, the teams traded baskets and the lead, until there were two controversial calls against Campbell. The first, a traveling violation on Moore after he pulled down a defensive rebound, gave Falls the ball back with 41.4 seconds left and the Tigers down by one.

On the ensuing Tigers possession, an official whistled Campbell’s Adyn Vasquez for a foul on a three-point attempt by Cameron Huff. Huff made the first two free throws before Zach Stinson grabbed the offensive rebound, allowing Rufai to make both of his foul shots and give the Tigers a three-point advantage with 25 seconds remaining.

“We got to be better in those situations. Obviously I didn’t agree with either of them, but that’s the way it goes,” Campbell head coach Nick Canterino said.

Down three, Campbell failed to do anything with its most important offensive possession, turning the ball over to seal its fate Friday night.

After the loss, Canterino said his team’s resilience is a point of strength, but he emphasized consistency to his players.

“We fight. Everyday we fight. It’s never a question about our team, the fight and the effort. It’s the little things,” Canterino said. “We made so many mental mistakes early. We had a bad day of practice yesterday. I just told these guys, you can’t go from a bad practice day to turning it on during a game.”

Newton Falls head coach Roy Sembach praised his team for responding in overtime despite allowing Campbell to come back.

“I was really proud of that [overtime] because we really could have hung our heads,” Sembach said. “These guys kept their heads in it, kept their focus and made the plays down the stretch.”

Both teams now turn their attention to home playoff games on Tuesday. Newton Falls hosts Chippewa in the Division III, Northeast 4 sectional, while Campbell plays Garfield Heights Trinity.

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