In a game featuring Nick Anderson and Rowen Farrell, three-pointers are expected, but McCutcheon and Lake Central torched the nets on Friday night. The teams shot a combined 21-48 from three-point range including a bunch of clutch shots at the end of regulation.

The teams wasted no time getting loose from the outside. The first five buckets of the game were three-pointers. Rowen Farrell had two of them. He had a special night as the McCutcheon seniors were honored before the game. In his final home game, Farrell connected on eight triples.

Lake Central’s Nick Anderson is having an Indiana All-Star season. Because of that, he is face guarded each game. McCutcheon opted for that defense and held Anderson to three shot attempts in the first half. Lake Central’s supporting cast stepped up as Anderson drew multiple defenders. In the opening half, Kyle Blum, Nate Oakley, and Jaiden Clayton provided most of the offense for the Indians. Oakley was a force on the glass all game even though he had a fall in the second half.

After scoring nine points in the first half, Farrell scored eight points in the first three minutes of the second half. He mixed in a coast to coast score with a couple of threes. Lake Central stayed with McCutcheon during Farrell’s run thanks to a couple of threes by Ami Khatra.

With the game tied going to the fourth, Anderson started to get looks against McCutcheon’s tough defense. Things started to get wild in the final four minutes. Freshman Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn hit a three for the Mavs, and Anderson answered right back with a triple off a feed from Khatra. A minute later, Anderson made two free throws to put LC up two. Farrell buried a three from the left side to give McCutcheon the lead right back. After an LC turnover, Farrell made another three to put the Mavs up four.

Lake Central wasn’t done. Anderson punched back with another three. With 90 seconds left, Lake Central fouled McCutcheon but the Mavs missed the free throw. On the ensuing possession, Anderson had a good look from the left side, but the shot didn’t go down. That looked like it was going to be Lake Central’s best chance.

Farrell made four free throws to put McCutcheon up five with 19 seconds left. McCutcheon fouled Anderson with 16 ticks left. After making the first, he missed the second, but the Mavs player landed out of bounds on the rebound. On the in-bounds play, Anderson found Hunter Zezovski for the bucket plus the foul. Zezovski made the free throw to make it a one-point game.

With 11.9 seconds remaining, Gibbs-Lawhorn went to the line and made two big free throws for McCutcheon. Anderson grabbed the ball and drilled a three off the dribble to tie the game with five seconds left. McCutcheon had a good look at the buzzer, but the shot was off the mark.

After surging to end regulation, Lake Central took the lead in overtime on a free throw by Blum. McCutcheon’s freshman was there again when the Mavs needed him. Gibbs-Lawhorn hit a three to swing the advantage in McCutcheon’s direction.

Oakley scored 17 seconds later to tie the game for the 14^th time. With two minutes left, Farrell hit another three. On McCutcheon’s next possession, Joe Phinisee scored in the lane to extend the lead to five. This time, Lake Central had no answer.

McCutcheon won 75-68 behind 30 points from Rowen Farrell. He was 8-11 from three-point distance. He also had six rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn had 17 points, three rebounds, and two assists. James Mallett was key with nine points, five rebounds, four assists, and a block. Joe Phinisee also had seven points and three assists.

Nick Anderson finished with 22 points on 4-8 shooting from three and 5-12 overall. He had six rebounds, three steals, and three assists as well. Nate Oakley had a workmanlike 11 points and 12 rebounds. Hunter Zezovski added nine points. Kyle Blum had nine points and four rebounds. Ami Khatra tallied eight points and three assists.