Sports

Fall Mountain tops Newport in overtime thriller 

By DAN BARILE 

Eagle Times Correspondent 

LANGDON, N.H. — Last year’s overtime thriller at The Den between Fall Mountain and Newport was the most exciting of the dozens of high school basketball games I covered during the winter season.  

While matching the excitement of last year’s contest seemed like a nearly impossible task, the Wildcats and the Tigers managed to give the crowd in Langdon another instant classic on Friday night that needed overtime to determine a winner.  

Unlike last season’s matchup that saw Newport claw its way back from a 20-point deficit before winning the game on a buzzer beater in overtime, the gap never grew to more than six points during this year’s edition as Fall Mountain came through for a 63-60 victory. 

Fall Mountain held a 12-10 edge at the end of the first quarter before Aaron Fellows, Christian Forsythe and Adrian Sanchez combined for 20 second-quarter points to give Newport a 30-26 lead entering the half.  

Zach Hearne had the hot hand during the third quarter, sinking three shots from beyond the arc and scoring 11 points to help Fall Mountain reclaim a 43-42 advantage entering the final frame.  

The fourth quarter went back-and-forth before Newport found itself trailing by three with 14 seconds remaining. As the seconds ticked away, it appeared as though Newport was going to be forced into a contested attempt until Christian Forsythe broke free in the final moments and drained his fourth three of the night to force overtime.  

Fall Mountain never trailed in the extra period, leading by as many as five points with 52 seconds remaining. Newport had one final attempt to tie the game just before the buzzer, but the presence of 6’3″ Tyson Patch thwarted any chance of a full-court heave finding the bottom of the net.  

“The maturity and growth of this team really showed in overtime,” Fall Mountain Head Coach Nate Haskell said. “I’m so proud of them.”  

Luke St. Pierre led Fall Mountain with 21 points, Ledger Willett was next with 14, and Zach Hearne had 13. Christian Forsythe (29), Aaron Fellows (21), and Adrian Sanchez (10) combined for all of Newport’s points.  

Fall Mountain (5-3) will be looking to secure its sixth straight victory when they host Hillsboro-Deering on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Newport (6-3) heads to Sunapee for its next contest on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.