Othello Boys suffer triple overtime loss to Prosser

Trevor Hilmes left the floor with blood streaming from his nose, pooling in his hands, only to return after a short stop at the trainer’s table. Kyler Villarreal scored 13 of his game-high 41 points in overtime, including a four-point play to tie it in the first overtime.

Prosser countered with 26 points from Chase Courtney and another 25 from Haden Hicks. Friday night’s Central Washington Athletic Conference confrontation was just that. Bodies hit the floor, time was called to clean bodily fluids and it took three overtime periods to decide.

Prosser (4-5, 3-5 CWAC) used a 9-2 run to open the third overtime to finally gain some separation and run it out with a 99-89 victory on the road.

“We believe in ourselves and we just kept fighting,” said Hilmes. “We’re not the most skilled players or the best shooters in the league, but we’re making a difference through just plain hard work. We worked our butts off chasing loose balls and playing defense. We understand our roles. We have our shooters. We have our rebounders, our hustle-players and everybody is doing what they can to contribute to this team.”

Midway through the second overtime, Othello assistant Jeremy Cerillo called out to Michael Gutierrez, “You gotta rebound, every one,” he said in what seemed like a private conversation in the midst of madness. The 6-foot-1 senior nodded, game on.

The Huskies (3-7, 3-6 CWAC) trailed by 14 at the half and chased that same deficit into the fourth quarter, where they outscored the Mustangs 24-11. Villarreal knocked down a trey to tie it at 62-62 with 17 seconds remaining in regulation and Hilmes made 1-of-2 free throws to send it into overtime.

“I don’t think we ran out of gas chasing them down at all. It was crunch time and you have to put your shots down. You don’t make shots in overtime, you’re not going to win.” said Villarreal, who scored 24 points in the second half and 13 combined in the overtime periods. “Every day we’re working and we want to win. We have a competitive drive. We don’t have the basketball background as everybody else. They’ve got guys that are playing year round, but we’re never going to give up and we’re going to keep fighting.

“If we have to finish the game with blood on the jersey, so be it.”

Prosser took a three-point lead, 76-73, with 1:14 left in the first overtime period when Will Weinmann knocked down the free throw to complete the three-point play. Jonathan Garza showed some mettle, standing his ground to draw the offensive foul when Andre Vanguardia lowered his shoulder going baseline on the Mustangs next possession.

Villarreal was feeling it all night long and buried another three from the top to tie the game at 76-76 and send it to a second overtime.

“There was a couple of moments when it felt like we were gaining some momentum, but they got some rebounds for put backs and pulled away,” said Garza said. “We didn’t have that burst, that dagger, or a key shot that gave us the momentum.”

The game could have been decided at the free-throw line in the second overtime with both teams in the bonus. Villarreal missed one in giving the Huskies the lead, 84-83, with 1:16 remaining and Vanguardia missed one, but sent the game to a third overtime period.

“They were able to get the runs and we had to play through it. That’s what we worked on all week,” Huskies coach Roman Pruneda said. “We started off slow tonight and started competing too late.”

Villarreal came down with a huge defensive rebound with 30 seconds left in the second overtime, but had his legs taken out from under him as the game got physical. The 6-4 senior lost control of the ball in the scramble and Prosser coach Toby Cox called timeout when the Mustangs secured the ball.

Prosser used a 6-0 run to open the third overtime and finally secured the lead when Gutierrez and Villarreal had runners in the paint spin out.