ELKHART — A clutch free throw by Central’s Jaron Walters sent the game into overtime, but Elkhart Christian’s Kenny Bearss answered in the extra session to give the Eagles the win.

Bearss scored the go-ahead basket Tuesday with a minute left in overtime, followed by a free throw with 15 seconds remaining, and Elkhart Christian held off a furious Blue Blazers attempt to tie the game and escaped with a 52-50 victory at North Side Gym.

“That was a huge win for our program. We had a game plan for tonight that our guys executed superbly,” Elkhart Christian head coach Ryan Culp said. “They knocked down huge shots and hit clutch free throws at the end. I was very impressed with the way that we came back in overtime.”

After back-to-back baskets by Tyler Van Arsdale put the Eagles up by seven points heading into the fourth quarter, Central turned up the on-the-ball pressure to fight back.

The Blazers forced Elkhart Christian turnovers on its first two possessions of the fourth quarter and went on a 7-0 run to tie the game on a put-back bucket by Brian Harter.

Bearss answered with a pair of 3-pointers to give the Eagles back the lead. However, when Bearss hit one of two free throws with a little more than a minute to play it marked the end of Elkhart Christian’s scoring in regulation.

A pair of free throws by Walters got the Blazers to within 47-44 and after the Eagles missed consecutive opportunities from the stripe on front ends of one-and-one’s, Central called time with 10 seconds to play to set up a shot.

However, Blake Brouwer’s 3-point attempt missed its mark.The rebound was gathered by Walters and he was fouled on his put-back attempt. With less than a second on the clock, Walters stepped to the line and tied the score at 47.

In overtime, after a basket by Street gave the Blazers a lead, Elkhart Christian’s Ryan Kupferschmid hit a pair of free throws to tie it, before Bearss’ final three points provided the final score.

“It’s disappointing. We let too many good opportunities get away,” Central coach Matt Windy said. “We were one rebound short all night. We just didn’t make the big shot when we needed to and they did.”

Bearss finished with 19 points to lead Elkhart Christian (13-6), while Kupferschmid added 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Brouwer led Central (5-17) with 11 points, while Walters and Harter each contributed nine.

Playing their final regular season game, Central altered its normal lineup to allow senior manager Nick Marbury the chance to dress and start the game. However, it was Elkhart Christian that caught a little good fortune in the early going as Kupferschmid hit from three-quarters court to end the first quarter and Bearss raced the length of the court to hit a runner at the buzzer to end the half with the Eagles leading 24-19.

“This is a great win to come into North Side Gym and beat a 4A school,” Bearss said. “When we’re a lonely, little 1A Christian school.”

Elkhart Christian 52, Central 50

Elkhart Christian — Tyler Van Arsdale 3-7 0-0 7, Kenny Bearss 6-8 3-7 19, Cory Waycaster 3-18 4-6 10, Ryan Kupferschmid 5-8 2-2 14, Tanner Watson 0-4 0-0 0, Collin Craft 1-4 0-0 2, Dalton Lemert 0-0 0-0 0, Jack Walters 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-49 (.367) 9-15 (.600) 52.

Central — Nick Marbury 0-0 0-0 0, Terrell Street 2-9 0-1 5, Joseph Godfread 0-2 1-2 1, Victor Kyle 4-13 0-0 8, Jaron Walters 3-9 3-3 9, John Stahl 0-4 1-2 1, Brian Harter 4-9 1-2 9, Blake Brouwer 4-12 0-0 11, Myran McKnight 2-4 1-2 6, Matthew Eppers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-62 (.306) 7-12 (.583) 50.

Scoring By Quarters

Elkhart Christian 14 10 16 7 5 — 52

Central 12 7 14 14 3 — 50

3-point goals: ECA (7-12) — Bearss 4-4, Kupferschmid 2-2, Van Arsdale 1-2; Central (5-19) — Brouwer 3-8, McKnight 1-2, Strett 1-5.

Rebounds: ECA (35) — Kupferschmid 13; Central (36) — Harter 9, Walters 9.

Assists: ECA (8) — Waycaster 3; Central (9) — Street 4.

Steals: ECA (1) — Bearss; Central (5) — Kyle 2.

Turnovers: ECA 10, Central 7.

Fouls: ECA 11, Central 18. Fouled out — Street.

Officials: Jay Smith, Eric Coburn, Kyle Robinson.

Records: Elkhart Christian 13-6, Central 5-17.

Next: FW Canterbury at Elkhart Christian Friday; Central vs. Concord Tuesday in 4A Elkhart Sectional first round at North Side Gym, 6 p.m.

JV: Central 61, Elkhart Christian 31. Top scorers: Central — Derald Gary 15; Elkhart Christian — Steve Weaver 11.

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