CHESTER - The Chester Hambletonians went into this game holding a 2-0 win record over Sullivan West this season. In this intense matchup that went into double overtime, the ‘dogs clenched a two-point win to advance to the next round of sectionals.

 The Hambletonians came out hot, and by the end of the first quarter, they held an eight-point lead over the visiting Bulldogs.

As the second quarter started, Chester continued to push the play. Point guard Reggie Go, of Chester, had several steals converted into fastbreaks. The Hambletonians lead increased to 22-11, forcing the ‘dogs to call a timeout to regroup. A swift resurgence from the Bulldogs, after the whistle, sparked a run. Sullivan West’s Dylan Lockwood scored six of his eight points in the second quarter. By halftime, the Bulldogs had pulled within one and went into the break energized.

 The score was 27-26 in favor of the home team at the top of the half. After a 3-pointer from the Bulldogs’ Evan Ebert, Sullivan West took their first lead of the game since the first quarter. The back-and-forth duel between these two teams made for a very crowd-entertaining competition. Advancement to the next round of sectionals was on the line and the spectators in attendance came ready to support their teams. Chester held a 39-35 lead over Sullivan West at the top of the fourth. The two teams continued to trade buckets but Chester held onto a 45-42 lead with just a few minutes left in the game. It looked grim for the ‘dogs.

 Chester would go to the line twice after drawing two fouls from the visiting team but just couldn’t convert at the stripe. It was all tied up at 45 and the game headed into the first four-minute overtime quarter. Neither squad seemed to hold much of an advantage over the other and by the end of the first overtime, the score was 51-51.

 The second overtime began, and pure hunger drove the Bulldogs to outscore the home team 10-8 to win the game 61-59. “We just had to execute so we could come out on top. We’ve been preparing for this all season long and now that the moment is actually here they executed. It feels good to get a win against a team that beat us twice during the regular season. It’s good to get some revenge,” said head coach Ronj Padu of Sullivan West. The Bulldogs will travel to Burke tonight, the #1 seed, for the Section IX Class B Semi-Finals.