Rossville shooters overcome Harrison

ROSSVILLE — Guards Brandon Tonsoni and Austin Miller had a cold shooting start against Harrison on Saturday.

They warmed up at the right time, though, helping rally Rossville past the Raiders 72-69 in overtime.

Miller hit two key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, while Tonsoni added a pair of treys in overtime. They combined to shoot 2 of 11 from beyond the arc in the first half.

"They picked a heck of a night to be off," Rossville coach Dave Mosson said, "but shooters have to keep shooting. They may miss the first five or six in a row, but they may make the next seven or eight. They have to have that mentality."

Harrison (2-11) appeared in control to pick up its third win of the season, leading by as much as 10 points, 56-46, with 4:18 remaining.

But Miller hit two 3-pointers down the stretch, his second tying the game at 59 with 40 seconds remaining. Harrison's Nathan Wissman quickly pushed the ball up court, drew a foul and made two free throws.

Rossville junior James Baker answered by doing the same, hitting two free throw to tie the game at 61 with 23 seconds remaining. Baker finished with a team-high 17 points on the strength of 11 of 14 shooting from the line.

Harrison guard Bobby Rogers missed an open 3-pointer at the end of regulation that would have won the game.

"We knew coming into it that they could make shots," Harrison coach Mark Rinehart said. "We knew they were going to make a run because they can shoot and it's a good atmosphere (at Rossville). They make a couple of shots and then their confidence goes up. They made six 3s in the second half and every one of them felt like it was a huge shot that they had to make."

Tonsoni hit two 3-pointers in overtime, the second coming with 50 seconds remaining and proving to be the winning points. Wissman, who scored a game-high 22 points, had an open look to tie the game at the buzzer, but missed.

"I was proud of our execution down the stretch because we had good looks," Rinehart said. "If we could have been more efficient offensively in those situations they would have needed more shots."

Rossville (7-6) had seven players score at least five points, as Miller finished with 16 and Tonsoni had 14.