SULLIVAN - Trailing 53-40 with 3:50 remaining, Black River was well on its way to a season-opening loss to Open Door on its home court.
Then Black River’s Joe Tutie lit a spark in the Pirates. His three-point play with 3:29 to go led to a charge that ended in a 66-64 Pirates win in overtime.
So improbable was the rally that Black River coach Bryan Morgan could hardly believe what he had just seen. Especially since his most experienced player, Jon Sas, was on the bench for most of the comeback after fouling out following Tutie’s three-point play.
“I didn’t think we had a chance,” Morgan said. “That’s not a knock against my guys at all. All game we could never quite get over the hump and finish a good run at them. When Jon went to the bench with just over three minutes remaining I thought we were done.
“But I give credit to my players out there on the floor. They never gave up and kept going at them.”
Tutie cut the deficit to 55-48 on his second three-point play with 2:26 remaining and Black River got the ball back on a traveling call.
Tutie then split a pair of free throws following Mike Terry’s fifth foul, pulling the Pirates to within 55-49 with 2:14 left.
But Tutie wasn’t done.
Another Open Door turnover gave the ball back to Black River, which promptly got the ball back into Tutie’s hands. This time Tutie was fouled by Joey Untalasco and he calmly sank both free throws to cut the deficit to 55-53 with 2:00 remaining.
The foul was Untalasco’s fifth and he became the second Open Door player in less than 90 seconds to foul out. Black River tied the game at 55 on a steal by Curtiss Klosski, who dished the ball to John Guilford for a layup, with just under two minutes left on the clock.
Guilford’s bucket concluded a 15-2 run that began on Tutie’s first three-point play.
“We didn’t play well the first three-and-a-half quarter quarters of the game,” said Tutie, who finished with 13 points. “Once we started playing well we could feel the momentum shifting to us. The crowd was pumped and we were feeding off of them. From that point on, it was just a matter of time.”
Black River took its first lead at 57-56 with 1:16 remaining. It was short-lived, however, as Open Door’s Eric Mann hit a pair of free throws to put the Patriots back on top, 58-57.
A Black River turnover and foul on the ensuing inbounds pass sent Christian Hardt to the line for the Patriots. Hardt hit both free throws to extend the Open Door lead to 60-57 with 57 ticks left.
Black River answered with a basket by Curtis Klosski and a free throw to tie the game at 60, all with :27 remaining. Open Door had a shot to win it, but Abe Valentine’s shot at the buzzer was just off the mark and the game went into overtime.
In the OT, Klosski scored four of the Pirates’ six points, including a baseline jumper with 3.5 seconds left to break a 64-64 tie. Open Door called a timeout to draw up a final play, but Jacob O’Connor stole the ball on the inbounds pass to seal the victory.
“This was a great way for us to start the season,” said Klosski, who led the Pirates with 23 points. “We could have given up but we didn’t. We kept plugging away and it paid off with a win tonight.”
The loss overshadowed the play of Valentine, who finished with 28 points and nine rebounds. Mann chipped in 13 points for the Patriots.
“We let one get away from us,” Open Door coach Jason Penley said. “We had the game within our grasp but they grabbed it from us. I give them (Black River) all the credit in the world. They did the things that they needed to do to win the game.
“We just didn’t do what we needed to do on our end to finish it and it cost us tonight.”
Contact Hans Schneider at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.
Black River 66, Open Door 64
OPEN DOOR (64): Abe Valentine 12-2-28, Eric Mann 5-2-16, Christian Hardt 3-2-8, Mike Terry 3-1-7, Joe Untalasco 2-0-4, Davis Spencer 0-1-1, Preston Phillips 0-0-0, Cmeron Rodgers 0-0-0. Totals 25-8-64.
BLACK RIVER (66): Curtis Klosski 9-4-23, Joe Tutie 4-5-13, Jacob O’Connor 3-0-7, Cody Klosski 3-0-7, Jon Sas 3-0-6, John Guilford 3-0-6, Mat Stuart 2-0-4. Totals 27-9-66.
Open Door 21 10 11 18 4 - 64
Black River 11 12 13 24 6 - 66
Three-point goals: Open Door 6-18 (Mann 4, Valentine 2); Black River 3-10 (Cu. Klosski, Co. Klosski, O’ Connor). Field goals: Open Door 25-57 (44 percent); Black River 27-54 (50 percent). Free throws: Open Door 8-9 (89 percent); Black River 9-14 (64 percent). Rebounds: Open Door 31 (Valentine 9); Black River 25 (Sas 5). Turnovers: Open Door 24; Black River 20. Fouls: Open Door 23; Black River 17. Fouled out: Mann, Untalasco, Terry, Sas.
Junior varsity: Black River, 38-14.
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