A car accident two days before? That didn't hinder the Reignmakers performance this past week versus Skully Jaxx, who was slated as one of the "teams to beat" at the beginning of the year, 52-48 in overtime.
The first overtime game for the Reignmakers went as good as it could have. The good guys outscored the visitors 7-3 in the extra period to take home the win.
The outcome looked far different after the first few minutes of the game. Behind 20-8 early in the first half, Coach Jason Hunter made a rare decision, the first of the year, to call a timeout from the bench.
The timeout seemed to work. After the first half, the Reignmakers only trailed by eight, 31-23. The team continued their brilliance in the second half and had the game tied at 45.
The usual suspects struggled for the most part throughout the game. Brandon Hunter only hit on one of his three point attempts (1 of 15) and had only 11 points total. Jason Hunter only had 8 points and one rebound, but hit the game tying three pointer to send the game into overtime, and hit two big free throws in overtime to push the lead to four.
Everyone else put up the numbers where the two leading scorers could not. Kerry Hunter grabbed 8 rebounds and had a game and season high 20 points. The big man seemed to find the areas behind Skully Jaxx's 2-3 zone and had layup after layup (8 of 11). He also connected on four of five from the foul line.
Mike Petrilli finally found his stroke. After shooting only 26% from beyond the arc this year, he connected on three big threes, six taken total, and gave the Reignmakers a huge boost in both halfs, and the overtime (9 points, 7 rebounds).
Andy Kempf found his niche on the glass and grabbed a season high 10 on the night. The second chance points were down for Skully Jaxx as the Reignmakers gobbled up 40 rebounds on the night, a team high.
Ryan Stuver (2 points, 3 rebounds) contributed on the glass and on defense and Clintion Weigel (4 rebounds) kept up the energy on both ends with a couple steals and penetration on the other end.
A win like this over a top team is a great boost to the Reignmakers morale heading into the post season. With only two games left, they have easily played the top competition this past week.
"It's a huge win, definitely our best win of the year." Coach Hunter said after the game. "To be behind that early, to battle back, to make it to overtime, and then to win...we were never tested in that way this year. It was great. We are riding a high and need to keep it going through the next two games. We can't relax."
"We definitely have a target on our backs now, we have to," Andy Kempf followed up.
"We like this view from the top."
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