BY MICHAEL DAVID

It was Senior Night at the Community School, and the 5 seniors on the Cutthroat varsity squad wase not leaving the Fishtank until they secured a victory over the Camas County Mushers.

It ultimately took an extra period of basketball for the determined Cutthroats (7-9, 4-6) to defeat the Mushers (4-12, 3-7), 58-57 in front of a packed gym in Sun Valley.

Senior forward Garret Rawlings, who led the home team with 23 points, made a driving layup with 4.6 seconds remaining to secure the overtime victory for Community School.  It capped an exciting game that featured a big lead by the home team, and a courageous comeback by the visitors.

The Cutthroats started quickly out of the gate by tallying the game’s first seven points. Behind the scoring of Daniel Dufur (15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal), the Cutthroats possessed a 16-6 lead at the end of the first stanza.

Led by the scoring of their two big men, Rawlings (23 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks) and Alex Feldman (10 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks), the Cutthroats maintained their 10-point lead after two periods and the teams went to their respective locker rooms with Community School up by the score of 32-22. Guard Keegan Whitelaw (4 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals) directed the offense with  four  first half assists and keyed the defense with three steals before halftime.

Rawlings opened the third quarter by drilling a three-point shot to extend the Cutthroat lead to 13 points. However, the Mushers went on a 13-2 scoring run, led by their senior guard Erick Peterson, to cut the Community School lead to just two points, 37-35.

Dufur ended the Cutthroat scoring drought with a mid-range jumper to put his team up by four points, but the Mushers scored the final four points of the quarter to leave the teams tied at the end of three periods, 39-39.

Two Musher free throws at the start of the fourth period gave the squad from Camas County their first lead, 41-39.  And with 6:05 remaining in regulation, the Musher’s held their largest lead of the game, 45-41.  The Cutthroats scored the next seven points, capped off by a Garrett Rawlings steal and a breakaway layup to put the home team up by three points, 48-45.

As they had done the entire second half, the Mushers rallied with two straight baskets to regain the lead 49-48 with 1:21 remaining in the fourth quarter.  A Rawlings layup gave the Cutthroats the lead, 50-49 with 35 seconds left in regulation, but the Mushers hit a free throw to tie the game and send the teams to an extra period of basketball.

Camas County scored first in the overtime period, but Garrett Rawlings quickly tied the game with a strong inside move and layup.  Whitelaw stole the ball on the Musher’s next possession and went the length of the court for a layup to put the Cutthroats up by two points.  After the Mushers tied the game on a Peterson basket, Alex Feldman hit a turnaround jumper to put Community School up by two points, 56-54 with less than one minute left in overtime. 

The Mushers, cheered on by the many fans that made the trip from Camas County, hit a three-point shot with 14.9 seconds remaining to put the visitors up 57-56. Following a time out, the Cutthroats wisely worked the ball inside to Rawlings, who banked in a layup with 4.6 seconds on the clock to regain the lead for Community School, 58-57.  A three-point attempt by the Mushers at the buzzer bounced off the rim, sending the Cutthroat fans streaming onto the court for a victory celebration.

Senior Colby Marsh chipped in four points and four rebounds for the victors, and Junior Jackson Dies contributed two points off the bench for the Cutthroats.

Rawlings said after the game this was a special way to end a satisfying regular season:  “This group of seniors has endured some tough losing seasons, and it feels good to have a season where so much has gone well.”

The Cutthroats will play Monday, Feb. 15, in the District IV tournament play-in game vs. Castleford. The game tips off at 6 p.m. at Shoshone High School. The winner of that game will face the Dietrich Blue Devils on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 3 p.m.