Fulton County Ohio Media

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In the final second of the boys’ basketball game in Archbold High School’s Thunderdome, lightning struck and thunder followed when Swanton junior Brady O’Shea threw up a three-point prayer that found the bottom of the basket to give the Bulldogs a dramatic 46-44 victory over the Blue Streaks, setting off an explosive celebration from the Swanton bench and the visitors’ section of the arena.

Down 21-18 at halftime, Swanton outscored Archbold 18-8 in the third quarter to take a seven-point advantage, 39-32, into the fourth.  The Streaks responded, going on a 10-0 run and led 42-40 when O’Shea drained triple to put the Bulldogs back on top 43-42 with 1:06 left in the contest.  With both teams in the free throw bonus situation, Archbold got a single foul shot from Madden Valentine to tie the game at 43-43 at the 53.4 mark and another from Sonny Phillips to take a 44-43 lead with 6.4 second remaining on the clock.

Needing to travel the length of the court, Swanton was able to move to just outside their arc when the ball was knocked out of bounds, possession to the Bulldogs, with 1.1 seconds left to get off a shot.  O’Shea shook loose from his defender, took the inbound pass from Isaiah Bolyard and launched a shot from a 45-degree angle that banked off the glass and went through the hoop a split second after the buzzer sounded.  It was the second consecutive NWOAL game-winning shot with under a second to go for Swanton, having edged Delta 49-48 on three Evan Reinhard free throws with 0.9 seconds left the Friday before.

Charlie Wood led the Bulldogs with 13 points while O’Shea and Reinhard added eight points each.  Michah Nofziger topped all players with 15 points for the Blue Streaks.  Phillips scored 11 and Morgan Harris had nine.

The Swanton win places their league record at 2-3 and 10-9 on the season.  They play their next game on Friday on the road against the Bryan Golden Bears.  Archbold’s NWOAL record falls to 2-3 with the loss while a 48-36 win over the Tinora Rams improves their overall mark to 10-7.  They will travel to Wauseon next Friday to take on the Indians.

Swanton Bulldogs:  9-9-18-10 = 46    Charlie Wood (13), Brady O’Shea (8), Evan Reingard (8), Giovani Ruiz (7), Logan Young (4), Isaiah Bolyard (3), Brady Haselman (3)

Archbold Streaks:  8-13-8-15 = 44    Michah Nofziger (15), Sonny Phillips (11), Morgan Harris (9), Madden Valentine (5), Evan Wendt (3), Kurt Krueger (1)

Click on the link to access photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Photo: Swanton Bulldogs celebrate the thrill of victory