Tagan Sivick propels Shepaug boys basketball team past Nonnewaug in final seconds for Berkshire title
· Yahoo Sports
THOMASTON - During Shepaug boys basketball's undefeated state championship season of 2024-2025, there were the usual big nights from stars like Reed Woerner, James Kersten and Drew Konik.
Then there was the unsung hero moment provided by Harrison ‘Sonny' Smith in the Berkshire League tournament final against Nonnewaug at Northwestern. Smith made the go-ahead layup and two clutch free throws in a three-point victory.
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Fast forward to Monday night, and it was senior Tagan Sivick's turn to play hero. Sivick's layup with 5.5 seconds left in regulation was enough to give third-seeded Shepaug a thrilling 72-70 win over top-seeded Nonnewaug inside a packed Thomaston High School gymnasium.
Sivick, a 5-foot-11 center, lamented a couple shots he missed earlier in the game.
"In a close game, that's pretty painful, but the last one is the one that counts. It feels good," Sivick said.
Just after the interview, Smith tossed the championship net over Sivick's head and it settled perfectly around his neck. It was like a passing of the torch from one unsung hero to another.
The score the previous year was 73-70 in favor of the Spartans. Nonnewaug won the 2024 tournament final, 73-69, over Shepaug.
Sivick scored 10 points, including four in the fourth quarter, the exact amount that Smith tallied the year before (Smith scored 15 on Monday night). Sivick made two free throws for a 67-62 Shepaug lead with 1:58 to play, then sank the winning layup with 5.5 seconds remaining.
"(Sivick is) very unsung, he does all the dirty work. He's a 5-foot-11 center, he's playing against 6-4, 6-6 guys all season, and he just battles," Shepaug coach Matt Lefevre said. "He's smart, and he makes winning plays. He made those two free throws down the stretch. It was just massively huge."
"He's been a four-year player, he shows up to practice every day, he works hard. He's bought into the system, and that's the result you get out of it," said fellow senior James Kersten, who scored a game-high 27 points. "He grabs rebounds. The stuff nobody sees, that's what he does, and we're very appreciative of that. He's fighting down there under the hoop."
The thing that both head coaches can appreciate in a game like this is what they received out of all five starters. All 10 players did their part. There were the stars like Kersten and Nonnewaug senior Derek Chung, who scored a team-high 21 points. There were also players like Nonnewaug senior center Jack Nettleton, who tallied 16 points on an array of nifty shots around the hoop.
"Just like you saw Sivick score, we have guys too just like that," Nonnewaug coach Tim Fitzpatrick said. "We have deep teams where, even though Kersten went crazy, you still get big buckets from other guys, and that's what makes both of these teams championship teams. That's what makes it right there."
Kersten, who recently reached 2,000 career points, erupted for 21 second-half points, 10 in the third quarter and 11 in the fourth.
"All I needed to see was just one go through," Kersten said. "I had a very terrible first half. One went through, that grew my confidence, and I just kept going forward after that."
As much as Kersten tried to power Shepaug to victory, Nonnewaug stayed close. Once the Chiefs, down 55-45 early in the fourth quarter, got to within two points, 55-53, on Robert Metcalfe's fast-break banker, the lead fluctuated between two or three points and five points. Shepaug pushed its lead to five points on six different occasions, but Nonnewaug countered every time. A putback by Nettleton and 3-pointer by Chung tied the game, 70-70. The Spartans called timeout with 25.9 seconds left to set up a final play. The ball wound up going to Sivick, who scored.
"They're too good not to (come back)," Lefevre said about Nonnewaug. "We couldn't picture how we were going to beat them. We just had to make a play or two at the end to try to do it. The same thing as last year, almost the exact script."
And another unsung hero had the final say for Shepaug.
Player of the Game
James Kersten, Shepaug: The senior overcame a subpar first half and scored 21 of his game-high 27 points in the second half to lead his team to victory.
Quotable
"We just love to let them come back. It's terrible. We need to just end it when we can. It was a good game, a close game, and I'm glad we won." - Shepaug's Tagan Sivick talking about the recent close games against Nonnewaug.
Shepaug 72, Nonnewaug 70
Shepaug 13 17 22 20 - 72
Nonnewaug 14 17 14 25 - 70
Shepaug (16-7)
Ryan Davis 2 0 0-0 4, Drew Konik 5 2 0-1 16, Tagan Sivick 4 0 2-4 10, James Kersten 5 5 2-3 27, Sonny Smith 2 3 2-3 15, Luca Inglese 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 10 6-11 72.
Nonnewaug (20-3)
Robert Metcalfe 3 3 2-3 17, Derek Chung 4 4 1-2 21, Brady Herman 2 1 3-5 10, Tristan Parker 0 2 0-0 6, Jack Nettleton 5 0 6-6 16. Totals: 14 10 12-16 70.
3-point field goals:S-Konik 2, Kersten 5, Smith 3; N-Metcalfe 3, Chung 4, Herman 1, Parker 2.
This article originally published at Tagan Sivick propels Shepaug boys basketball team past Nonnewaug in final seconds for Berkshire title.