ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Trailing by eight points, 96-88, with four minutes remaining in the OVAC Samuel A. Mumley Boys All-Star Basketball Classic Sunday afternoon inside the ECO Center, Ohio outscored W.Va. 10-2 down the stretch to pull even and force overtime.

Then, in the 2-minute extra session, the Buckeyes scored the final four points to escape with a 104-100 victory. The come-from-behind win allowed Ohio a sweep of the two games as the girls had prevailed, 75-71, in the early game.

With the game knotted at 100 early in overtime, Martins Ferry standout Alex Reese drove down the lane for a dunk to give Ohio the lead for good. A pair of clutch free throws by Steubenville’s Aiden Davis preserved the triumph.

“I felt comfortable. I’ve put a lot of hard work in,” Davis, a West Liberty University recruit, said. “I shoot a lot of free throws every day, so I felt comfortable that I was going to make them.”

The win was a little more special for Davis as he played his first three high school seasons at Wheeling Park before transferring back to Steubenville where he attended junior high.

“It was a blessing,” he said. “I got to be back with my Ohio guys. I had a lot of fun.”

West Virginia broke out to an early lead behind the play of Clay-Battelle’s Preston Luzader. The Mountaineers led 21-9 at one point only to watch the Buckeyes pull even at 30. Steubenville’s Will Taylor gave Ohio its first lead at 37-36. St. Clairsville’s Brady Schafer bumped the margin to 39-36. The game was deadlocked at 42 and 44 before Luzader beat the first-half buzzer with his 13th and 14th points as the Mountaineers led 46-44.

The margin grew to 61-50 on the strength of a 15-6 spurt to start the second half. Morgantown’s Marty Johnson scored seven points in the surge.

Ohio answered with a 12-3 run to cut the deficit to 64-62 as Davis and Cambridge’s Jesiah Barnett knocked down back-to-back triples.

West Virginia built the margin back to 10, 74-64, as Cameron’s Mason Scott connected from long distance on consecutive trips down the floor. However, an 8-0 counterattack by the Buckeyes made it 74-72 at the midway point of the second 20-minute half.

Magnolia’s Darin Shimp tallied six straight points as the Mountaineers once again tried to run away and hide, but Ohio remained close as East Liverpool’s Cohen Pease had 12 of his team-high 20 after the break.

Down by eight with time winding down, Ohio used a Taylor trifecta to make it 96-95. Johnson put West Virginia ahead 98-95. Taylor’s three-pointer from the left wing with 45 ticks left tied the contest and neither team could score in the waning seconds to force overtime.

Taylor scored the final of his 18 points to put the Buckeyes ahead 100-98 early in overtime, but Luzader pulled the Mountaineers even with the last of his game-high 23 points. Johnson added 18 for West Virginia.

Davis and Reese finished with 10 points each.

SPECIAL HONORS

– Former Weirton Madonna boys head coach George Vargo received the Earl Haberfield Coaches Award, while Brooke County resident Chippy Rea was presented with the Robert Dawson Officials Award.

– St. Clairsville’s Tyson Pastor won the Slam Dunk Contest at halftime.

– Pastor also received the $250 Susan Kay Stanko Memorial Scholarship.

– Pease was presented with the $250 Richard Saffield Memorial Scholarship.

– Schafer and Morgantown’s DeMarcus Bandy each earned a $500 Richard Potts Scholarship.

– Reese was presented with a $250 Ray Ponzo Scholarship, as was Wheeling Central’s Tyler Dean.