SAINT JOHN, N.B. – Holy. Smokes. What else can you say? The New Brunswick Interscholastic Athletic Association boys’ AA game was a thriller. If not a chiller. Seriously.

That was as good as New Brunswick Interscholastic Athletic Association play can get Friday at Harbour
Station, when the final horn sound, when the final siren wailed, when the final shot went up it was Rothesay
High Red Hawks posting a tremendous 89-86 triple overtime win over Woodstock High Thunder.

Where does one begin to describe this beast? We don’t even know. It had appeared Rothesay that had salted the AA title away, ready to celebrate victory against Woodstock . Um, not so fast, Batman. Rothesay had a 63-58 lead with 2:28 to play in regulation, but Woodstock’s Lucas Tompkins said there won’t be a celebration yet.

He hit a three with 1:14 left and then hammered an even longer trey with 37 seconds to go to make it a 66-66 clash and force overtime. In the first OT, Matt Baker pushed Rothesay ahead 73-71 in the dying seconds, but Tompkins scored even later to make it 73-73. Crazy.

In the second OT, both teams battled and Rothesay had a 78-76 lead before Tompkins pumped inside to
tie it. Woodstock had a late possession and missed leading to a last ditch double OT effort from Isaac Bujold
which just found iron, forcing OT number 3. In the third, Rothesay bolted to an 85-82 lead before Thunder tied it 85-85 with 2:38 to go.

Everything that came together to make this one of the best ever Final 12 games in history led to this
point. Ken Daley smoked a trey with 67 seconds left to push Rothesay into an 88-85 lead before Woodstock’s
Alex Vadureanu went one for two from the line to make it 88-86 with 9.7 seconds to play.

Rothesay inbound to Matt Baker with eight seconds left and he was fouled by Woodstock’s Cordell Paul, his fifth of the night, sending him to the bolt and the head-banded saviour Baker to the line. He hit one for two and Rothesay would win by three in one of the best ever NBIAA games.

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