A slow-starting game turned into quite the thriller.
Trailing 39-20 in the first half, Verona rallied to force overtime, eventually pulling away in the extra frame as the Wildcats took down Madison West 79-73 on Friday night.
Madison West dominated the first half en route to a 47-34 halftime advantage, raining in six three-pointers. Verona had a kick to the finish in the first half, setting the Wildcats up for their second-half run.
It wasn't until midway through the second half until Verona was able to tie the game for the first time since it was 7-7 early in the game, when the Wildcats got it to 55-55. Jacob Kisting hit a pair of free throws with a little over eight minutes to play to give Verona their first lead of the contest at 57-55. The rally was set up by three made threes by Kolson Roddick in the second half, to go with two in the first half for five total in the game.
After some back-and-forth, the Regents were able to build up two-possession leads down the stretch, but Verona kept battling back. Malik Odetunde scored 10 of his 12 points in the game in the second half, and with 4.5 seconds left, Haakon Anderson hit his only shot after halftime to tie the game at 68 to send it to overtime.
In the extra frame, Jonah Anderson scored five of his six points in the game to help Verona pull away for a Big 8 win.
Armwald had a game-high 24 points and Benjamin Davis added 11 for West. Verona had four players reach double figures, led by Roddick with 22, Haakon Anderson with 14, and both Odetunde and Kisting with 12 each.