High school basketball: Fremont bounces back for OT win

PLAIN CITY — They blew a 16-point fourth-quarter lead, gave away all the game's momentum and let Davis off the hook in regulation.

But, in overtime, the Fremont Silver Wolves reverted to what helped them dominate the first three quarters of their 75-71 victory over the Darts on Friday night. They took care of the ball, didn't lose track of Davis' shooters and made enough free throws to down the Darts.

And, for the first time since the 2004-05 season, a team other than Davis is atop the Region 1 boys basketball standings. Fremont now sits alone in first place with a 5-0 league record, while Davis drops to second at 4-1. The Silver Wolves ended a six-game losing streak against the Darts.

"It feels great," said Fremont forward Jake Nish. "We deserve it after coming together (in overtime). We wanted this win. We hadn't beat them in a while."

The result seemed like a foregone conclusion when the Silver Wolves went up 53-37 early in the fourth quarter. But Davis — as one would expect from a four-time reigning region champion — made a run. Josh Van Weezup hit three 3-pointers during a 10-0 run to quickly get the Darts within six.

Davis kept chipping away while Fremont struggled from the free-throw line — missing five of its last 10 attempts in regulation — and the Darts' Tallon Burton sent the game into overtime with a layup, with two seconds remaining, to tie it at 64-64.

The Silver Wolves easily could have folded because Davis had all the momentum going into overtime. But they quickly took the lead when Patrick Fishburn made two free throws and Nish made a basket to put Fremont ahead 68-64. The Silver Wolves never trailed in overtime.

"They could have hung their heads in overtime, but they battled and got the lead and continued to fight," said Fremont coach Corey Melaney. "I'm proud of these guys. They worked hard for it."

Nish helped put the game away. After guard Ty Willie made one of two free throws to put Fremont up 74-71, Tate Lewis forced a turnover, and Nish picked up the loose ball, drove to the basket and drew a foul. He then made a free throw to seal the win in the final seconds.

"It was intense," Nish said. "They had the momentum going into overtime, but we just came together as a team, knocked down our important shots and free throws. We wanted it more and we got it."

Several players contributed to Fremont's victory, including Corey Craynor, who hit two 3-pointers during a 30-second span in the third quarter to give the Silver Wolves a 42-33 lead. Fremont closed out the third quarter, outscoring Davis 15-4 in the final 4:30 of the period.

Nish and Lewis played well in the post. Nish had 16 points and 7 rebounds, and Lewis had 9 points and 5 rebounds. Fishburn led the Silver Wolves with 18 points. Burton had 23 points for the Darts.

It was Fremont's fifth straight win and it improved to 9-1 overall this season, but there's still a lot of basketball to be played in Region 1.

"I don't even think we're a third of the way through it (the region season)," Melaney said. "We still have so much work to do and so many games to be played. We can't relax for a second, or else we'll get beat."

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