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Ostrowski scores 37 to lead East Lyme past Waterford in OT

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Joe Morelli / Hearst Connecticut Media
East Lyme’s Dev Ostrowski tries to take Waterford’s Kenny Hill off the dribble during East Lyme’s overtime victory.

EAST LYME – In the last time he would face Waterford on his home floor, Dev Ostrowski was not going to walk off without a victory.

Great players make great plays when the game is on the line. Sometimes, it’s not the shot East Lyme coach Jeff Bernardi wants. Sometimes, it goes in and you just throw your hands up in amazement.

With 37 points in all, nine of them scored in overtime, Ostrowski didn’t let East Lyme lose. The Vikings defeated the Lancers 75-71 before a sold-out crowd of 900.

“You can’t lose that game,” Ostrowski said. “I was just thinking, ‘They (Waterford) cannot storm the court.’ I had to do whatever it took and we did it.”

It was a matchup of top 10 teams battling for the top spot in the Eastern Connecticut Conference. Waterford (10-1) is ranked sixth, with East Lyme (10-1) right behind at No. 7.

East Lyme has won 10 straight games since its opening-night loss to Notre Dame-West Haven, the state’s No. 5 team and also undefeated.

Fans lined up to buy tickets well before 5 p.m. to get a chance to see the two ECC titans slug it out.

That set the tone for the rest of the night,” Ostrowski said. “All of those guys coming to see East Lyme or Waterford win. I wanted to make my fans happy.”

Ostrowski also scored 37 points against Notre Dame, a game the Green Knights came from behind to win. On Friday, Waterford’s last lead in regulation was 17-14 late in the first quarter.

East Lyme’s largest lead was 12 three times in the third quarter, the last at 53-41.

But the Lancers wouldn’t go away.

“My guys battled down 10 with 4 minutes to go. They absolutely battled back and they did not give up,” Waterford coach Bill Bassett said.

Ryan O’Connell banked in a layup with 2.7 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

“We told them, it’s zero-zero, 4 minutes, you have to go hard,’” Bassett said.

Then Ostrowski took over. A jump shot, a 3-pointer, a thunderous dunk and one last hoop put East Lyme up by four. Waterford took its only lead in the overtime on O’Connell’s three-point play.

“That three he took, he pulled up from 25 (feet). I didn’t even see that one coming and he buried it,” East Lyme coach Jeff Bernardi said. “I’m shocked that he shot it, and shocked that he didn’t even hit the net. I feel in every big game, he makes that 25-foot three. Those are just daggers. If you are Waterford, what do you do? What are you supposed to say to your team? ‘Get a hand up at 30 feet?’”

Said Bassett: “I thought he made two shots, I don’t want to call them circus shots but they were unbelievable. … Fourteen of 26 from the free-throw line doesn’t help your case, You have to be able to execute offensively. I can’t fault my guys from a defensive standpoint.”

Ostrowksi also ran off the last 11 points of the first half for the Vikings, who made seven 3-pointers in the opening half.

Waterford had an 11-0 run in the first quarter, answered by a 10-0 Viking run to close out the quarter.

Luke Leonard (20 points) Diaz (12) combined on the first 11 points of the second half to build East Lyme’s lead to 12 (47-35). They also combined on seven 3-pointers overall.

EAST LYME 75, WATERFORD 71 (OT)

WATERFORD (10-1)

JJ Brennan 4 4-8 13, Dylan Eckhart 1 0-2 3, Ryan O’Connell 6 3-8 15, Kenny Hill 5 0-0 12, Liam Spellman 3 4-6 10, Payton Sutman 8 2-2 18. Totals 27 (4 3s) 14-26 71.

EAST LYME (10-1)

Dev Ostrowski 14 4-4 37, Nate Diaz 4 0-0 12, Luke Leonard 6 5-7 20, Jacob Peters 1 0-0 2, T.J. Horner 2 0-0 4, Joey Grubb 0 0-0 0, Drew Menghi 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 (12 3s) 9-11 75.

WATERFORD 17 12 12 23 7 — 71
EAST LYME    19 17 17 11 11 — 75