“It’s a battle every night in the league,” said Taft head coach Mark Mitchell.  “These kids have been playing against each other since middle school and they play together in the summer so it’s for bragging rights.”

The Senators grabbed a 56-53 lead with 2:02 left in overtime on a 3-pointer by senior guard Quavis McKinney and never looked back.  Hughes went cold from the field in OT making only 2-of-9 field goal attempts to seal their fate.

A basket by Taft junior forward Richard Harris with 21.2 seconds left in the game had given the Senators a 51-49 lead.  But the Big Red responded on a lay-up at the buzzer by Jack Smith off a nice dish from B.J. Lowery to force overtime.

Harris scored a game-high 21 points including 19 in the second half and overtime to lead the Senators.  He also contributed 11 rebounds in recording a double-double.

“He made the difference in the second half,” said Mitchell.  “I think his size and athleticism just wore them down a little bit.”

Courtney Davis added 18 points for Taft and Orlando Richardson tallied 10 points.

Harris and Davis combined for 14 of Taft’s 16 points in the third quarter as the Senators grabbed a 38-36 lead heading into the final period.

There was six different lead changes in the final quarter before Smith’s basket at the buzzer forced overtime.

 Jack Jackson led Hughes with 16 points.  Smith added 14 points, all of them coming in the second half and overtime.