Boys District Basketball: Underdog Columbia fights to the finish in loss to Grand Valley

ORWELL — No. 14-seeded Columbia wasn't given much of a chance against second-seeded Grand Valley on Monday night, but the Raiders played one of their best games of the year before falling 74-67 in double overtime in a Division VI district semifinal. Grand Valley improved to 20-4 with their seventh straight win and will face Warren JFK at Salem High School on Saturday afternoon in the district championship game. "I'm just so proud of this team," Columbia coach Josh Scharf said. "When we got together back in October, we were not a basketball team. We were a bunch of individuals and we set a path of change that got us here tonight and we will walk out of here as a team with our heads held high." Grand Valley came in with 6-foot-5 junior Carter Turk looking to score his 1,000th career point, but Turk's 32 points were negated by one of the smallest guys on the floor in junior Logan Menge, who matched him with 32. "We can't ask for a better high school basketball game in the district semifinals," Scharf said. "I think walking in here no one gave us any respect. This was a packed gym and a great environment. I think they thought they were going to walk all over little Columbia." Columbia, which finished 13-11, showed the large Mustangs crowd that they were here for the long haul, finishing the first half on a 9-4 run to take a 31-26 lead. The Mustangs set the wheels in motion for a back-and-forth second half by scoring the first 10 points of the third on 3-pointers from Anthony Eason and Turk and four points by Cooper Plizga for a 36-31 lead with 4:30 left in the quarter. Columbia fought back, getting the lead down to 45-43 at the end of the period with five points from Ambrose Beach, three by Menge and two each from Jack Washburn and Dylan Fisher, who finished with 14. Neither team could pull away in the fourth, with the largest lead being Columbia up 51-48 following another drive to the basket by Menge, but Grand Valley took a 55-53 lead on a three-point play by Turk with 42 seconds left in regulation. Menge tied the game nine seconds later with two free throws. It looked like Grand Valley would run away in the first overtime, scoring the first six points, but Menge hit a 3-pointer, Fisher scored on a layin and Washburn sent the game to a second overtime with a bucket in the paint with 17.8 left. Neither team got much scoring to start the second extra session, with Columbia trailing 65-63 after a Menge free throw, but the Raiders couldn't convert in the paint down the stretch, hitting just one field goal, a Fisher 3-pointer, as the Mustangs drained seven of eight free throws in the final 58 seconds to pull away. "Both teams just laid everything out there and showed that neither one wanted this to be their last game of the year," Grand Valley coach Justin Turk said. "We knew (Columbia) was going to play hard and knew this was going to be a dogfight from the start to the finish." Contact James Brady at jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. GRAND VALLEY 74, COLUMBIA 67 (2OT) COLUMBIA (67): Jack Washburn 3-0-6, Logan Menge 11-7-32, Dylan Fisher 6-0-14, Graham Ross 1-0-2, Ambrose Beach 3-3-9, Carter Hess 2-0-4, Mason Bledsoe 0-0-0. Totals 26-10-67. GRAND VALLEY (74): Anthony Eason 4-0-11, Carter Turk 10-8-32, Solomon Schultz 6-2-14, Liam Hart 0-0-0, Cooper Pilzga 2-4-8, Payton Pilzga 3-2-9. Totals 25-16-74. Columbia 15 16 12 12 7 5 — 67 Grand Valley 11 15 19 10 7 12 — 74 Three-point goals: Columbia 5-17 (29 percent, Menge 3, Fisher 2), Grand Valley 8-31 (26 percent, Turk 4, Eason 3, P. Pilzga). Field goals: Columbia 26-72 (36 percent); Grand Valley 25-71 (35 percent). Free throws: Columbia 10-13 (77 percent); Grand Valley 16-20 (80 percent). Rebounds: Columbia 46, Grand Valley 45. Turnovers: Columbia 10, Grand Valley 8. Fouled out: Washburn.