Story By Heath Hambrick
On Monday night, the Fort Payne Wildcats had to work hard to get a victory on senior night. It took double overtime for the Wildcats to pick up a 75-73 win over the Etowah Blue Devils.
Fort Payne led at the end of the first three quarters (13-12, 32-25,51-43). The two teams were tied at the end of regulation, 59-59, and at the end of the first overtime period, 64-64, before the Wildcats secured the victory, 75-73, in the second overtime period.
In the first quarter, Payne was led by JJ Willoughby, who scored nine of the Wildcats 13 first-quarter points. Fort Payne built a slim five-point lead midway through the first quarter before Etowah closed the gap to a single point, 13-12, by the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the game remained tight until Carson Todd helped push Fort Payne to halftime. Todd scored nine points in the second quarter. Fort Payne took a 32-25 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, it was all Willoughby as he went to work in the paint for the Wildcats, scoring ten points to help extend Fort Payne's lead to eight, 51-43, going to the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Etowah intensified its defensive pressure, leading the Wildcats to commit turnovers that resulted in points for Etowah. Etowah outscored the Wildcats 15-8 in the fourth quarter. Down three with 1:58 left to go in the game, Fort Payne held the ball, looking for the shot they wanted. With 40.4 seconds to go in the game, Carson Todd hit a game-tying three-pointer from the left corner. Fort Payne’s defense got a stop with an Anthony Davis steal with 29 seconds to go, but were unable to get a final shot off, and the game went to overtime.
In the first overtime, Fort Payne won the tip, and then Davis missed an open three, Etowah grabbed the rebound and made a layup on their end of the floor to take a two-point lead, 61-59. Fort Payne then turned the ball over, and Etowah made a three-pointer to take a five-point lead, 64-59.
Fort Payne’s Todd finally got the Wildcats on the board in overtime by making a layup, and then was fouled by Etowah. Todd made the free throw for the old-fashioned three-point play to cut the Etowah lead to just two, 64-62. With 1:45 left in the first overtime, Todd blocked an Etowah shot, which led to Willoughby getting a layup to tie the game at 64. Neither team scored in the final 1:30 seconds of the overtime period. Etowah had a chance to win the game with 11.5 seconds left as Fort Payne turned the ball over once again. Etowah missed a game-winning layup, and Sy Powell pulled down the rebound for Fort Payne and sent the game to a second overtime.
In the second overtime, Etowah won the tip-off and scored to take a two-point lead early. Then, Willoughby made two free throws and a layup to take a 68-66 lead with 1:59 remaining in the game. Then Etowah regained the lead 69-68 with a minute to go in the game. Caiden Couch for Fort Payne then made a three-pointer to give Fort Payne a 71-69 lead with 51.1 seconds left.
Fort Payne fouled Etowah on a three-point shot, which sent them to the free-throw line. Etowah made two of three free throws to tie the game. Etowah then fouled Todd, sending him to the free-throw line, where he made both of his free throws, giving the Wildcats a 73-71 lead. Then, with 8.1 seconds left in the game, Sy Powell came up with a steal, and Etowah fouled Powell right away, sending Powell to the free throw line. Powell made both to give Fort Payne a four-point lead, 75-71. Etowah made a basket as the time ran out to make it a 75-73 Wildcat victory.
Senior JJ Willoughby led the way for Fort Payne on senior night with 31 points, Carson Todd scored 19 points, and Sy Powell added 11 points.
Fort Payne improved to 13-12 on the season.
