The sophomore hit a driving jumper to lift the Lions to a 73-71 victory over Catholic Central in overtime on Tuesday night at Jason Collier Gymnasium.
The shot was Witherow’s first career game-winner, he said.
“I saw space and I took it,” Witherow said. “I like going to the rim. I live for those moments and I made it.”
Senior Jae Ferryman had 21 points, junior Nathan Hudson scored 20 and Witherow and senior Gus Carrier each added 12 as the Lions improved to 12-4 overall.
Junior Keegan Guenther scored a game-high 28 points, senior Zac Thompson had 18 and junior Berkeley Little added 14 for Catholic Central, which fell to 10-4 overall.
The Irish trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half, but battled back to pull within three points with 4.3 seconds remaining. Little banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key to send the game to overtime tied at 64.
“It’s all positive from my perspective because what you’re looking for in these big games like this is that you’re looking to see what kind of team you have and if you have grit or not,” said Irish coach Matt Mullen. “I think it showed in the second half. We played great. We shared the ball in the second half and really had some guys step up down the stretch, which was nice to see. Hats off to them. … They made one more play than we did.”
The Lions took a 45-29 lead in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Lions senior Alex Pinkleton. The Irish stormed back in the fourth, cutting the lead to 61-58 on a free throw by Little with 25.5 seconds remaining. After Witherow hit two free throws with 18.1 seconds to go, Guenther converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to cut the lead to 63-61. The Irish again fouled Witherow and he hit the second free throw to make it 64-61.
Catholic Central had possession with 4.3 seconds remaining in regulation. The goal, Peterson said, was to foul as soon as the Irish crossed halfcourt. Little, however, pulled up right at the edge of the cloverleaf at center court and banked in a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime.
“You can’t do anything but just throw your hands up,” Peterson said. “We were wanting to foul, we just didn’t get a chance to do it.”
After the Irish grabbed the momentum, the Lions knew they had four more minutes to bring home the victory.
“When we came over to the bench, they all were like, ‘We’re good’,” Peterson said. “That’s been our motto for this year. The confidence of them, I can’t ask for anything more.”
Witherow hit a layup and Hudson scored three straight points to give Emmanuel a 69-64 lead with about 2:30 remaining.
The Irish cut the lead to 71-68. With 15 seconds remaining, Emmanuel fouled Central senior Owen Young. He missed both free throws, but Thompson grabbed the rebound and was fouled while making the layup. He hit the free throw to tie the game at 71.
On the ensuing possession, Witherow got the ball and drove to the hoop from the left side, draining the shot with his right hand to give Emmanuel the lead for good.
“It’s a big-time shot from a sophomore,” Peterson said. “I can’t say enough about Josh. He’s got ice water in his veins, obviously.”
Catholic Central entered the game on a six-game winning streak. It travels to Madison-Plains on Friday night for an Ohio Heritage Conference South Division game.
The victory will be key for postseason seeding, Peterson said. The Lions entered the game ranked seventh in the Division VII Southwest District North RPI ratings, which are used to determine tournament seeding, while the Irish were fifth. Emmanuel Christian travels to Yellow Springs on Friday before hosting No. 4 Franklin-Monroe on Saturday night.
“It was a big win for us because we know with their strength of schedule that they were ranked higher,” Peterson said. “That’s one of the things we were looking at. We knew that they were going to be super tough.”
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