It took an overtime period to do it, but the West Liberty Comets boys' basketball team defeated the West Branch Bears on the road Jan. 24, 62-59.

"I thought we shared the ball pretty well," West Liberty Head Coach James Laughlin said. "We did some good things. Troy Heick is home sick right now, so Brady Smith stepped in and did a nice job defensively on (West Branch's tall man, Bradley) Arp. We got banged up. Brady twisted an ankle. Cooper (Koenig) hurt his knee. We were a short bench there for a while, and I thought Luke Seele did a great job coming in off the bench as well."

First Quarter

Both teams swapped points in the first quarter, ending with a basket by Becker made for a 15-15 tie at the end.

Second Quarter

Becker started the second quarter with a three-point shot, then West Branch tied it with a trey. Becker hit another three pointer. Each team got a defensive rebound. Smith got a defensive board, then the Bears got a steal and a layup. West Branch got another steal and Guardado got a defensive board. West Liberty turned the ball over a couple of times, but the Bears didn't score until the 3:00 mark when a putback basket gave them a 22-21 lead.

Guardado got the lead back for the Comets with a short jumper. The Bears turned the ball over but got a steal and a layup. Miller scored, assist Becker, for a 25-24 lead. Guardado was fouled and made both free throws for a 27-24 score. West Branch scored inside to cut the Comets lead to one, then Riley Anderson made a basket just before the buzzer sounded for a 29-26 West Liberty halftime lead.

Third Quarter

The third quarter started off slowly offensively for both teams. The Bears scored the first basket at the 4:49 mark, then Miller made a three-point shot for a 32-28 West Liberty lead. Later on West Branch completed a traditional three-point play with 28.2 seconds on the clock for a 42-39 Bears lead. The Bears got a defensive board, then Miller got a defensive rebound to end the quarter.

Fourth Quarter

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West Liberty takes down West Branch