(Tayshawn Comer pictured from the spring)

 

Indiana Basketball Source's 4A No. 1 (Cathedral) and 3A No. 2 (Brebeuf) battled tooth and nail into overtime before Tayshawn Comer sent the Fighting Irish fans home with a victory.

 

Brebeuf senior Billy Smith had a game of his lifetime, and it began in the opening minutes. The Miami of Ohio signee torched the nets from the tip as he scored ten first-quarter points. However, he saved his best for the end of the period as he splits defenders with a spin move and scored before the buzzer. 

 

That gave Brebeuf a 14-11 lead going to the second. 

 

Cathedral junior Xavier Booker helped the Fighting Irish tie the game in the second with eight quick points. He knocked down two spot-up three-pointers then used his incredible length to put back a Cathedral miss. 

 

Jaxon Edwards and Jaiden Malichi gave Cathedral a boost late in the first half. Edwards' explosive first step gave Brebeuf trouble, and he would have had a bigger night, but Edwards missed three dunks. Malichi came off the bench when Jake Davis picked up foul trouble and gave the Irish energy. 

 

Despite those Cathedral efforts, the Fighting Irish had no answer for Smith. His 17 first-half points helped the Braves take a 31-29 lead to the locker room.

 

Late in the first half, Cathedral point guard Tayshawn Comer picked up his third foul on a push-off. Because of the foul trouble, he only scored three points in the first half and sat the first four minutes of the second.

 

With Smith trying all of the defensive attention, Brebeuf had players spotting up for open three-point attempts. The Braves had timely threes by Alex Gothard, Paul Stubblefield, and Cameron Freeman. 

 

Trailing 42-39, Cathedral's Comer took over the game to start the fourth. The Eastern Kentucky signee sliced through the Brebeuf defense with little resistance and finished in the lane time and again. He scored 13 points in the fourth quarter as Cathedral took the lead late.

 

Comer pushed Cathedral's lead to 57-54 by making two free throws with under a minute to play. 

 

Of course, Brebeuf and Smith were not going to go quietly. After a timeout, Todd Howard drew up a play that found Smith in the post before he kicked the ball to Dirin Birhiray for an open three from just right of the top of the key. Birhiray buried it to tie the game.

 

Comer had a look to win it in regulation but could not get it to go.

 

To begin overtime, Jaron Tibbs made a couple of essential plays for Cathedral. First, he made two free throws to give the Irish the lead. Then, he grabbed an offensive rebound to provide Cathedral with an extra possession. Then, following a timeout, Comer made two more free throws to give Cathedral the 61-57 lead.

 

Stubblefield scored in the lane for Brebeuf to make it a one-possession game. 

 

Then Cathedral was called for an offensive foul. Brebeuf had the ball back with a chance to tie or take the lead. But, again, the Braves played through Smith in the post. This time, he scored in the paint to tie the game.

 

After melting the clock, Comer put a vicious dribble move on a Brebeuf defender and drove to the lane before smoothly laying the ball in with two seconds remaining. 

 

Brebeuf called a timeout to stop the clock from expiring and drew up a full-court pass to Smith. Michael Irk perfectly executed the pass to get Smith a three-point look from the right corner. The shot was a relatively clean look for Smith, but it was just short.

 

Cathedral won an overtime thriller, 63-61.

 

Comer finished with 24 points (10-10 free throws) and four rebounds. His fourth quarter and overtime performance was tremendous. Xavier Booker added ten points and seven rebounds. Tibbs recorded eight points and eight rebounds. Edwards tallied seven points, eight rebounds, three steals, and two blocks. Malichi had six points and four rebounds.

 

Smith finished with 35 points for Brebeuf on 13-23 shooting, including five three-pointers. Cathedral made Smith work for all of his points, too. Birhiray finished with nine points and eight rebounds. Stubblefield added seven points. Marial Puou did not score but recorded nine rebounds and two blocks. Alex Gothard tallied five points, four rebounds, and four assists in the loss. 

 

Cathedral is 3-0 and plays Brush (Ohio) at the Sneakers 4 Santa event at Brownsburg today (December 4.) Brebeuf drops to 2-1 and has gone to overtime in all three games.