Schuckman: Epic four-overtime game leaves Eagles, Suns exhausted but buoyed by their resiliency and moxie

AUGUSTA, Ill. — Ramsey Fry woke up Wednesday morning searching for energy.

“Oh, my goodness, my whole body was exhausted,” he said. “I could barely move.”

Cannen Wolf felt the same way as he left the gym the night before.

“I’ve never been that exhausted after a game or while I was in a game,” he said.

Nor had Fry, Wolf or any of their respective teammates been involved in such a momentum-swinging fight to the finish like they engaged in Tuesday night. The Liberty and Southeastern boys basketball teams needed four overtimes complete with three game-tying, final-second 3-pointers to settle a battle of state-ranked foes.

The Eagles won 71-67, but both teams exited with pride in their effort and buoyed by their ability to fight, claw and scrap until the final buzzer.

“The main thing is our team really battled it out,” said Wolf, the Liberty senior guard who scored a team-high 25 points. “Both teams battled it out. The amount of perseverance we showed during that game to finish it out was really special.”

The moxie of both teams was immense. 

“The environment was really fun. It was outstanding,” said Fry, the Southeastern senior guard who scored a game-high 32 points. “It was physical basketball. And I could not be more proud of my team for how we played and how we fought.”

Both teams took and delivered punches, forcing each other to stand tough.

Liberty, which was ranked seventh in the initial Class 1A state poll and playing without Logan Robbins and Devin Klauser, scored just four points in the third quarter and trailed by three going to the fourth. The Eagles needed a pair of late 3-pointers from Wolf, including one to tie the game at 49 and force overtime.

Wolf hit another trey to tie the game just before the buzzer at the end of the first overtime.

“Both of those are tough shots with kids in his face,” Suns coach Brett Ufkes said. “What are you going to do? The kid made tough shots. Good offense beats good defense.”

Southeastern, which was ranked 10th in Class 1A and playing without all-stater Danny Stephens, took its turn at swinging the momentum with a late 3-pointer in the second overtime.

After Wolf hit a 3-pointer — his fourth of the game — to give Liberty the lead in the second extra period, Fry buried a trey with three seconds left to tie the game at 62. The energy it created felt like a turning point.

“I definitely thought it would give us the momentum,” Fry said.

Ufkes wasn’t quite as sure.

“No, not really,” Ufkes said. “I thought we were hanging on by a thread.”

By the time they went to a fourth overtime tied at 64, both teams felt that way.

Fry and Suns guard Owen Rigg each had four fouls at the time and both ended up fouling out, while the Eagles had two players foul out and three others play a majority of the overtimes with four fouls apiece. It altered defensive strategies and made Liberty coach Greg Altmix appreciate having seniors on the floor.

“When you have seniors you can rely on and regardless of how they played through three quarters, when it comes to crunch time, they understand what they need to do,” Altmix said.

And they appreciate the chance to battle.

“At that point, the fighter instinct comes out,” Wolf said. “If we don’t get it done this overtime, we don’t know what’s going to happen. Really going into the fourth overtime, we knew we had to put it away.”

They went 5 of 6 from the free-throw line over the final four minutes to do that.

“We’re gutting it out,” Altmix said. “We’re going to get better and do more of the little things better, but right now we’re gutting it out.”

The ability to do that — both teams showed they have that ability — will pay off come February and March.

“We will be mentally tough and more physically tough as well,” Fry said. “It’s going to carry over to our bigger games.”

Ufkes believes these games build character.

“The main thing is they realize that if they put on their hard hat and pack a lunch pail they can compete,” Ufkes said. “That’s what we have to do. When Stephens comes back, we’ll be that much better because he won’t have to shoulder that much of the load. Other kids believe in themselves and what they can do.”

Maybe the next time they meet the same character and resilience will lead to another barn-burner that goes down as one of the most memorable games any of these players have ever participated in.

“It had to be a great game to watch for any high school basketball fan,” Altmix said.

But a tough one to wake up after.

“I think everyone was feeling it,” Wolf said. “Every player on both teams gave everything.”