SHORT GAP, W.Va. — With Frankfort trailing Fort Hill 60-41 in the fourth quarter, some Falcon faithful flocked for the doors.
They missed a comeback for the ages.
Frankfort ended regulation on a 17-1 run to force overtime, and the Falcons extended the onslaught to 26-3 against a stunned Fort Hill team that entered on a nine-game winning streak.
Two 3-pointers by Kycin Waites and another from Jeremy Phillips in the extra period upped Frankfort's lead to seven points with 1:52 to play, and it proved to be enough for the Falcons to topple No. 1 Fort Hill, 83-73, on Thursday night.
"Once we got down and they were handling things, it kind of felt like they were just going to put us away," Frankfort head coach Scott Slider said. "But we decided we wanted to play some basketball in the fourth quarter."
Frankfort, which upped its winning streak to five games with the victory, had 41 points through three quarters. It scored 42 over the final 12 minutes.
Fort Hill (14-4) has made defense its identity over the last month, and for three-and-a-half quarters, the Sentinels used that end of the floor to gain a double-digit lead.
The fourth quarter and overtime belonged to Frankfort.
"We completely forgot who we were," Fort Hill head coach Thad Burner said. "As the game kept going on and on, I thought we panicked a little bit. ... Just really, really, really upset about our effort. Frankfort really put it to us the last six or seven minutes of the game. They flat out outplayed us in every facet.
"We can't forget who we are on the defensive side of the ball. We completely lost track."
The game began to turn when the Sentinels' rim protector Landyn Green fouled out with 4:13 remaining, but the lead still stood at 66-50 after a Fort Hill bucket on the other end.
Frankfort proceeded to score 15 unanswered points to get within 66-65 with a minute to go, and trailing 67-65 with 30.8 seconds remaining, the Falcons forced a tie when Waites scored at the rim.
Fort Hill had one last chance out of a timeout with 4.7 seconds to play, but Hamilton's shot under the basket missed.
Waites earned a friendly roll on a triple 41 seconds into the overtime: The 70-67 Frankfort edge was its first since the first quarter.
Fort Hill's Anthony Palumbo hit a 3-pointer to get Fort Hill within 76-72 with 1:38 left.
But Frankfort's Ken'Yen Smith scored with ease at the rim on the other end, and the Sentinels, who appeared physically worn down after regulation, faded down the stretch, going just 1 for 6 from the line in overtime.
Fort Hill finished just 7 of 19 at the charity stripe.
Waites led Frankfort with 27 points, 18 of which came after the start of the fourth quarter.
"I think it was us really trusting our teammates and increasing our defensive ability, just getting up in their face," Waites said of the keys to the turnaround. "We forced them to turn the ball over. We sped them up, and I think that was the reason why we came back in the game."
Phillips was blanketed by Hamilton for three quarters. The sharpshooter averages 23.4 points per game but entered the fourth with just six.
Hamilton checked out for a quick rest after Fort Hill pushed its lead to a game-high 19 points, and Phillips immediately drilled a 3-pointer — his first of the game.
"I literally had him sit there for 40 seconds," Burner said. "Phillips hits a 3 and then we checked him back in."
Phillips ignited for 10 of Frankfort's 26 points in the fourth and five more in overtime.
He finished with 21 points and hit all eight of his free throws, Smith added 16 points and Braeden Laffey finished with 15.
Frankfort made 11 3-pointers, led by Waites' four. Phillips and Laffey sunk three each.
Jameson Powell-Morris led Fort Hill with 27 points. The guard took advantage of Frankfort's switch to a 2-3 zone in the third period, garnering 12 points to help the Sentinels to a 54-41 margin entering the fourth.
Hamilton ended with 19 points, Jacob Bone scored eight and Green finished with seven.
Fort Hill had a 17-15 edge after the first quarter, the difference a finish by Levi House in the final minute.
The Sentinels took a 36-25 lead into halftime, and they led by nine or more the rest of the way until Frankfort made its final push.
Fort Hill won the junior varsity game 47-24. EJ Scott led the Sentinels with 13 points.
Fort Hill hosts University (11-4) on Tuesday at 7 p.m., a team that defeated the Sentinels, 86-43, in Morgantown, West Virginia, back on Dec. 16.
"If we did wear down, then we've got to start working a lot harder at practice," Burner said, "and that was kind of the message to them. If we're going to get beat the way that we did down the stretch, then we need to do a better job of conditioning.
"We've got a tough task on Tuesday and then you go right back to Keyser. I think the kids are resilient."
Frankfort will look to keep building when it hosts Grafton on Saturday at 2 p.m.
While the Falcons' frenetic finish produced a classic, Slider and the Frankfort coaching staff are still searching for the right button to push for their team to start games strong.
"There are still so many things that we've got to get better at before playoffs come ... and it's like Murderer's Row because our AD just stacked us up with a bunch of tough teams at the end of the season," said a smirking Slider with his Athletic Director Jay Hesse within earshot.
"I wish I knew what switch to flip to get us started in the first quarter. It's something different every day."