Orr beats Bogan in double-overtime thriller

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Orr’s coach Louis Adams is shocked after the 2OT win over Bogan, Tuesday 02-12-19. Worsom Robinson/For the Sun-Times.

Bogan’s city championship hopes wound up resting on an off-balance, very difficult leaping shot attempt by Antione Bloxton, a junior playing his first game of the season and his first ever game for the Bengals.

That’s the kind of strange game it was on Tuesday at Orr.

Bloxton’s attempt rimmed out and the host Spartans beat No. 2 Bogan 77-76 in double-overtime in the quarterfinals of the Public League playoffs.

Orr will face Curie in the Final Four on Friday. The venue for the Final Four hasn’t been officially announced yet but it is assumed the games will be at Chicago State.

PUBLIC LEAGUE PLAYOFF BRACKET

Bloxton, a transfer from Julian, was just ruled eligible when the semester ended a few days ago. He was the Jaguars’ leading scorer a year ago and made an instant impact, scoring 15 for Bogan.

It was another transfer, Sherif Kenney, who was the hero for the Spartans. Kenney drained a three-pointer with five seconds left to tie the game and send it to overtime.

“Just shoot was all I thought,” Kenney said. “I just let it rock. My teammates were telling me to shoot even though I wasn’t having the best game.”

He tied the game with another three late in the first overtime. Then he opened the second overtime with a confident, nasty step-back three-pointer to give Orr a 73-70 lead and the momentum. He scored a minute later in the post to keep the Spartans in front.

PHOTO GALLERY

Kenney plays slow, but seems to see how things are going to develop before other high school players. He’s 6-4 and wide, effective as a point guard and a post player.

Orr (19-10) was unranked to start the season. Spartans coach Lou Adams didn’t seem to mind, hinting that once he had his full team assembled it would be a force.

Kenney has lived up to the hype for the most part. He finished with 20 points and five rebounds. Greg Outlaw added 14 points and five rebounds for Orr, he’s a transfer from Bogan.

The other piece Adams was waiting to get back was junior Demarius Splunge. He missed all of last season with an injury and eligibility issues after transferring from Clark. Then he was hurt to start this season. He’s healthy now and came off the bench to score 14 points.

“The [Public League] is tough,” Kenney said. “Nothing is easy. “We are definitely going to take care of business now that we are all back. The chemistry is getting there. Before everyone was back things were a little a shaky.”

Tujautae Williams added nine points and 10 rebounds for the Spartans and Terry Williams scored 10.

“This is such a big win,” Kenney said. “Playing Curie is going to be such a challenge but I think our guys are going to thrive off this one.”

There was a 25 minute delay with 2:15 left in regulation and the game tied. An Orr cheerleader passed out and an ambulance was called.

Jordan Booker led Bogan (22-3) with 21 points. He also had a chance to win it on the Bengals’ final possession but couldn’t get his drive to the basket to fall. Rashaun Agee had 18 points and 18 rebounds for Bogan.

WATCH THE FINAL TWO MINUTES OF REGULATION AND BOTH OVERTIMES:

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