It's totally unpredictable where the next big story will come from in high school sports.
Last week, for example, two unranked boys basketball teams in Kentucky played a marathon six-overtime game, with
Estill County (Irvine, Ky.) claiming a 102-99 victory over
Bourbon County (Paris, Ky.) after the smoke had cleared.
The state record is nine overtimes and there have been a pair of seven-overtime games, according to Mike Fields of the Lexington Herald-Leader.
"It's funny – the difference in winning or losing – but we just kept on fighting and believed the whole way," Estill County coach Jon Bentley told MaxPreps. "It would have stung a little more if we had lost the game, but down the stretch we executed well enough to pull it out."
Cade Berryman, a 5-foot-9 senior guard, led the winners with a career-high 40 points to go with 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Berryman made 19 of 29 free throws in the six overtimes.
"He had to take the ball and attack," Bentley said of Berryman.
Four players fouled out for Estill County, but Bourbon County lost six.
"We ran out of water in one of the overtimes," Bourbon County coach Jay Bordas said. "So I switched to chewing gum and then we ran out of that. We also ran out of dry-erase marker. It almost felt like a heavyweight boxing match – round one, round two.
Bourbon County's Chris Gillispie.
Photo courtesy of Jay Bordas
"It was tough. I really hated to see anybody lose. I thought it would never end. Coaches are more heartbroken than kids, because they are just happy to be a part of it."
Chris Gillispie, a 6-2 sophomore guard, emerged with a school-record 51-point effort for Bourbon County. He led the Colonels in scoring as a freshman and is high scorer this year, but his previous high had been only 25 points.
"He really stepped up," Bordas said of his sophomore star. "He was in a zone. He's a great leader. I told him to just keep their spirits up and don't even think about playing defense."
Gillispie called the loss "harsh. I didn't even know I had a school record. I'd rather get a win than 51 points any day."
Bordas noted that his star is on track to break the Colonels' career scoring record, which is held by Gillispie's uncle, Derek Robinson, who currently is the girls basketball coach at Paris (Ky.).
