'Champions find a way to respond': North boys' basketball prevails over Xaverian in OT, advances to Sunday's D1 state title game

BOSTON — Divine intervention, a lucky charm and nerves of Steele.

They all played a part in the North High boys’ basketball team’s improbable, 60-52 overtime victory against Xaverian on Wednesday night in a Division 1 state semifinal before a large and loud crowd at UMass-Boston’s Clark Athletic Center.

“They probably deserved to win the game,” coach Al Pettway said of the Hawks, who erased a 13-point, third-quarter deficit and took a 46-44 lead on a turn-and-shoot corner jumper by senior Ty Cheney with 30 seconds remaining in regulation.

"But, you know what, champions find a way to respond, and lucky enough tonight, we found a way to win.”

More: 'Without him, nothing would be possible': Pettway leads North hoops to another state title game

The Polar Bears had three opportunities to tie or take the lead, the last coming with 0.6 seconds left when senior Teshaun Steele was fouled on the right baseline after receiving an inbounds pass from junior Khari Bryan on a designed play.

As a tsunami of sound swept across the gym, Steele was grabbed by junior Amir Jenkins.

“I told him, ‘This is on you. You have to hit these two for us, for Carl,’ ” Jenkins said, referring to Carl-Hens Beliard, a senior on last year’s state championship team who died from gunshot wounds in November and had a seat on the North bench left empty in his honor.

It was essentially all-or-nothing for the top-seeded Polar Bears, who came in riding a 43-game winning streak. Steele stepped to the line, having made just one of four free throws to that point.

“A lot was going through my mind,” Steele said. “We were down two, and we needed those two big three throws. If I missed, the game was over.”

Once Steele touched the ball, his mind was freed of all thoughts. It was just him and the hoop.

Meanwhile, coach Al Pettway couldn’t bear to watch, so he looked down on the first attempt.

Swish.

Pettway joined everyone else in the gym in watching Steele’s second attempt, all the while rubbing a faux gold coin in his right hand that a youngster came out of the crowd and handed him last Sunday when North’s championship contingent marched in the Worcester County St. Patrick’s Parade.

“He said it was for good luck,” Pettway recalled.

Steele definitely felt relieved after the initial free throw went down.

“I already believed in myself that I was going to make both of them,” he said. “But after that first one, I knew there was no missing the second one.”

Again, swish.

And when the Hawks’ last-gasp shot fell well short of the basket, the Polar Bears began to celebrate like they had won the game.

Which they had not, although it certainly seemed destined at this point they would.

Some coaches would have settled their players down. Not Pettway.

“I just thought that was their second life,” he said. “So I figured with four minutes left, go. I just told them, ‘Play, defense. If you play defense, we’re going to be in the state championship game,’ and they did that.”

The Polar Bears allowed six points in the overtime session, the last three coming as time expired, and scored 14, which is two less than they tallied during an uncharacteristically disjointed second half.

Senior Jaydon Sarkodie (12 points) drained his fourth and final 3 to open the scoring, junior swingman Bryan (4 rebounds, 2 assists) muscled his way inside for his only points of the night, and senior Joe Okla made a free throw to finish with 13 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals.

Then Jenkins went to work, scoring the Polar Bears’ final eight points, all the result of aggressive forays into the paint, to seal the deal. He finished with a team-high 14 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists.

“I’m happy; just happy tears,” Jenkins said once the emotional roller coaster had ended. “I feel that when Teshaun made those free throws, someone we lost was with us tonight. I feel like he helped us come back.”

That someone, of course, being Beliard, whom Pettway referred to during a timeout with a tick and change on the clock.

“Those kids never gave up,” Pettway said. "I go back to the 1.6 seconds. You could just feel it. They were like, ‘It’s not over.’

“And I just said, ‘Carl,’ and they responded. The play worked. Thankful we’re going to the state title game.”

The Polar Bears (23-0) meet No. 3 Franklin (25-1) in the state final at 6 p.m. Sunday at the Tsongas Center in Lowell.

—Contact Rich Garven at rgarven@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @RichGarvenTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: North High finds a way, prevails in OT over Xaverian in D1 state semifinal