Altamont picked up their third win in a row on Friday night, outlasting North Clay 65-64 in overtime in a National Trail Conference battle that lived up to expectations. The Indians were able to get on the board first and after a few alternating baskets, the game was tied early at 4-4. An 11-6 run in the latter part of the quarter put Altamont up 15-10 at the end of the first. North Clay started the second quarter strong and used a 11-5 run to take a 21-20 lead halfway through the period but three baskets by Kade Milleville in the last half of the quarter while allowing just one basket to the Cardinals had the Indians leading again, going up 26-23 at halftime. The third quarter was a constant back and forth tug-of-war as Cooper McManaway and Cooper Pals both got some big shots to fall and the Indians clung to a 45-43 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Altamont was held to just eight points in the final eight minutes as Zaine Miller hit a pair of baskets but North Clay scored just two points more to tie it up 53-53 with about 30 seconds remaining in the quarter and the Altamont defense stood tall, contesting a pair of shots in the closing seconds that could have won it for North Clay and caused enough disruption to force overtime. The Indians had the momentum early in the overtime frame as Miller scored and a pair of free throws from McManaway and one more from Pals were followed by a basket from Jacob Johnson to put Altamont up 60-53. The Cardinals resorted to working their perimeter game, hitting a trio of threes and also hit a pair of free throws while putting McManaway at the free throw line four times in the same span and the game would again be tied up 64-64. With 3.1 seconds to go, Milleville got the ball on the right side and drove to the basket and was fouled to go to the line for two shots. Milleville hit the first free throw to give the Indians the 65-64 lead before North Clay called a timeout to ice the shooter. Milleville missed the second free throw and North Clay heaved up a desperation three at the buzzer but it was no good as Altamont held on for the 65-64 overtime win. With their third win in a row, the Indians move to 11-7 on the season and are 2-2 in the NTC. They will now have a week off until they get back into action on Friday at Shelbyville and after that, they will be home the following week for the National Trail Conference Tournament.
Altamont Scoring:
Kade Milleville – 21 points
Cooper McManaway – 18 points
Zaine Miller – 11 points
Cooper Pals – 8 points
Jacob Johnson – 5 points
Parker Bell – 2 points
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