Hononegah 61, Boylan 51, OT: Hononegah is becoming the king of close games.

Notching their third overtime victory this season, the Indians topped Boylan 61-51 Tuesday in the Guilford Regional semifinal.

“We have been saying overtime is ‘our house,’” said senior guard Matt Carroll. “We don’t lose in overtime. Our toughness comes out and we come to play.”

Carroll had eight of his 13 points in overtime when the Indians outscored Boylan 16-6.

“Our kids can execute under duress,” said Hononegah coach Mike Miller, whose 26-3 team has won six games by six points or fewer this season. “It’s something we try to stress in our practices and it shows when it comes time to win ballgames.”

Mario Donaldson and David Brown each scored 15 to lead the Indians. Brown also had a game-high 10 rebounds and four assists.

“It is our time to shine,” said Donaldson, who hit a key 3-pointer to open the overtime. “We worked hard for it the whole season, and we knew it was our time.”

The fourth quarter saw eight lead changes — no lead was larger than two points — and three ties.

Boylan got the last possession of regulation with 12.9 seconds remaining, but managed only a desperation 3 at the buzzer.

“They were double-teaming and that’s what hurt us,” Boylan coach Steve Goers said. “They played great defense in that last possession.”

Hononegah jumped out to a 16-5 lead early in the second quarter. Boylan rallied to cut the deficit to 21-17 at intermission.

The Titans took their first lead at 26-24 on Kieran Jansen’s 3 with 4:02 left in the third quarter.

The lead then switched hands five more times before the fourth quarter.

Nick Bauch sparked the Titans’ third-quarter comeback with six of his 12 points, three rebounds and a block.

Boylan (18-10) capitalized at the line in the fourth period, hitting 10 of 14 free throws, while Hononegah was 4 of 6.

But the Indians bowled over Boylan in the OT.

“We ran out of gas,” Goers said. “We expended a lot of energy coming back.”

- Doug Goodman, rrstar.com