Morning Journal / Ron Firth The Lions’ Jonathan Bertovich (11) is fouled by Vincent Greenwood of Mathews on Friday.

COLUMBIANA — The Heartland Christian Lions have been making history this season. Unfortunately, on Friday night, the season for the third-seeded Lions came to a sobering end when the 12th-seeded Mathews Mustangs pulled out a 67-63 upset win in overtime.

The Mustangs improved to 14-6 on the season and advanced to the OHSAA Division IV district semifinals Tuesday night when they travel to Wellsville to take on the Tigers. The Lions closed their season at 17-5.

“I’m super proud of our kids,” Mustangs coach Mike Weymer said. “I can’t point to one thing or one play. They felt a little bit disrespected in the tournament draw being a 12-seed. I think they kind of have that chip on their shoulder. I think that is a big part of what is fueling us.”

Despite the heartbreaking loss, the Lions have plenty to celebrate on the season. A school-best 17 wins and hosting their first OHSAA tournament basketball game.

“There have been a ton of moral victories and a ton of firsts that we have accomplished,” Lions coach Josh Scott said. “Obviously, if we had won it would have been a first as well. I believe we have beaten eight schools for the first time in school history just this year. It was a great chance to showcase this team that we have. They have worked and earned everything that they have received.”

The victory for the Mustangs avenged a two-point loss to the Lions on the Mustangs’ home court just two weeks ago. The tournament game included the same edge-of-your seat action with plenty of drama and excitement.

“It was a roller-coaster, both teams out there battling and working their tails off. And at the end of the day, we made more mistakes than they did. That was the difference in the game,” Scott said.

“We were in a similar game on Tuesday against Southern where we were down by nine going into the fourth quarter, and we came to win at the end,” Weymer said. “That was the kind of game that would be a springboard for us. This group is a never say die (attitude).”

The Mustangs held a 12-point, 41-29 lead with just under four minutes remaining in the third quarter. But the Lions roared back with a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to just four at 43-39 with only 30 seconds remaining in the third period.

“That has been our MO all year,” Scott said. “We have just been a resilient team. I think our worst loss was something like 13 (points). We are a team that has played competitively every night.”

They continued to control the momentum into the fourth quarter as they regained the lead 46-45 at the 6:04 mark on a powerful layup by Joey Donofrio. The Lions increased their advantage to 54-47 with 4:38 remaining in the game. That is when the Mustangs made their comeback.

The Mustangs closed regulation with a 12-5 run to knot the game at 59 and send the game into overtime. Vinny Sharp connected on a bucket with 1:10 left to give the Mustangs a 59-56 lead before the Lions Jonathan Bertovich drilled a 3-pointer with 50-seconds remaining to tie the game at 59.

In the extra session, Kyle Powell gave the Mustangs a 63-61 lead on a basket with a little over a minute remaining. Sharp then sealed the game by connecting on 4-of-6 free throws in the final 50 seconds of the extra period.

The Mustangs grabbed an early lead in the game and held a 9-7 advantage at the end of the first quarter. They went into halftime with a 24-22 lead courtesy of a bucket by Sharp with only 8 seconds before the buzzer.

“This is a good chance for us to remember this pain. We have never been here before, to not be the underdogs going into the tournament is new territory for all of us here at Heartland,” Scott said. “But that’s a good problem. We have long-term goals here. We want to build a program here and be synonymous with success, and a successful team. And we are taking those steps.”