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Sports

Saint Thomas Academy Edges Simley in Overtime

Simley missed a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but the Cadets won in overtime.

Simley High School was inches away from a three-game winning streak on Tuesday night, but Saint Thomas Academy rallied in overtime, winning 62-57 against Inver Grove.

After the defeat on Tuesday night, Simley fell to 7-15 on the season and 2-11 in Classic Suburban Conference play. Saint Thomas Academy evened its overall record to 7-7 and went to 13-8 in the conference.

The game was hard fought on both ends of the court. Saint Thomas Academy led 30-24 at halftime, but Simley rallied to take a 41-40 lead on a drive and three-point play by junior Max Wellens. The rest if the second half  was a back-and-forth dogfight, with neither team managing more than a four-point advantage.

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Simley's Shinoby Yang scored with 23 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 53-53. Saint Thomas Academy threw the ball out of bounds with 3.2 seconds left, giving the Spartans a chance to tie or win it at the end of regular time. But a long jump shot at the buzzer by junior John Spillane missed its mark.

Trailing 59-57 with 1:08 to play in overtime, Simley's Yang missed a field goal. The Cadets put the final nail in the Spartans' coffin at the free-throw line, where they made three of four shots in the final 20 seconds.

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Yang and junior Dillon Kaup each scored 16 to pace the Simley offense. Wellens added nine and Spillane notched six points. Saint Thomas Academy's forward Jordan Kruger scored 25 points to lead the Cadets' offense.

"They have some post players who can get the ball down low and score," Simley coach Ben Bushaw said. Rebounding made a big difference in the game, Yang added.

"They shot a bit better than us," said Kaup. "And we needed to take it to the hoop more."

Simley closes the regular season with a 7pm game against league-leading Hill-Murray (12-0, 17-5) in Maplewood on Friday.

"We're playing the best basketball of the season," said Bushaw. "We're playing team defense and we've got some confidence going."

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