ROCKFORD -- Springfield Our Savior's and Rockford Eisenhower played a game for the ages. When it was over, everybody in the whole Rockford Eisenhower gym was exhausted and, except for the losing team, exhilarated.
Telling someone that Our Savior's out of the LSA (Lutheran Sports Association) beat Rockford Eisenhower a 4A Public School out of the IESA 127-117 in six overtimes in a regular season non-conference matchup is going to be impossible to believe, but it happened.
There's more, so much more.
"I've got no words," Eagles coach Philip Heppe said when asked to describe the longest game ever in IESA history. "I've never been prouder of any team that I've coached, or any group of guys I've had the honor to coach."
There were the numbers, from the 3 hours and 46 minutes it took to play the game that ended at 10:22 PM, to the combined 244 points, 102 of which came after the regulation buzzer, to the eight players who fouled out, to the six who register double doubles.
And that wasn't nearly all. Just ask Our Savior's point guard Conor McCaffrey who had 54 points and 9 assists in a game-high 58 minutes, who played every single minute of the game.
"I just wanted to get the game over with," he said. "I was thinking, 'Lord, just get this game over with. Whoever wins this game, let's just get this over with."
"I can't even feel my legs right now," McCaffrey said. "It was a tough game, we battled it out, but we have to turn it around and be ready for this weekend.
McCaffrey also hit a 3-pointer 10 seconds into the sixth overtime, giving the Eagles their first lead since regulation.
"We needed to get one tip and sure enough we had the set play and we had Conor coming off a set screen and boom, he made it," Heppe said. "That was pretty big."
Jace Easley was also dominate tonight, really filling in on the glass for Jeremiah Perkins who fouled out in the 2nd overtime. Easley scored 51 points, had 24 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals.
The Eagles were able to make 40 of 51 free throws, but Rockford Eisenhower made just 24 of 42.
"We lost the game because we turned the ball over 27 times and couldn't make a foul shot," Rockford Eisenhower coach Jim Calhoun said.
Aaron Price had 33 points and 10 assists for Rockford, while Steven Robinson had 28 points and was one of three Rockford players to pull in 14 rebounds. Hasheem Thabeet had 19 points and 14 rebounds and he had 6 of Rockford's 16 blocked shots.
What will almost be forgotten as this game is recounted over the years was that it was nearly over before even one overtime was played.
Rockford Eisenhower's Kevin Walker, one of the smallest players on the court, grabbed a loose rebound and laid it in with 1.1 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 71. After a Our Savior's timeout, Easley ran the baseline and threw an inbounds pass past midcourt that was deflected by Rockford's Gavin Edwards to McCaffrey, who let a shot go from about 28 feet just as the red lights around the backboard went off.
It went in, and McCaffrey went running over to the Eagles bench, which was jumping up and down in excitment.
But the refs claimed that the shot was late, and that McCaffrey didn't get the shot off in time, after a few minutes of strict debate between Calhoun, Heppe and the refs, the shot was still confirmed as late, and the game went into overtime.
"It would have been a lot better if they counted Conor's shot and we could have gone home 2 hours ago." Heppe said, "but that's the way it goes."
Rockford took the lead in each of the first five overtimes, but Our Savior's found a way to come back in all of them. McCaffrey's 3 to start the sixth overtime gave the Eagles their first lead since 71-69 with 27 seconds left to go in regulation.
"It's a loss. There was something historic about the game, certaintly," Calhoun said. "Both teams competed. McCaffreys' big 3, Aaron's big plays. ... I'm sure in the summertime I'll look back at what a historic battle it was. Right now, it's a loss."
"We wanted to play tomorrow night, and playing Saturday night in this tournament is pretty special."
The first overtime ended tied at 81-81 when Walker ducked between two Eagles players for a 3-point attempt at the buzzer that was short.
The Second overtime almost had an ending for the ages when Walker let go with a shot from just inside the midcourt that bounced off the back of the rim, leaving it tied at 87.
Rockford scored the first six points of the third overtime, and Rockford were still ahead by six on James Adrien's follow layup with 2:08 left. Easley scored consective field goals for Our Savior's, and after Price made one free throw with 21 seconds left for a 98-95 lead, McCaffrey hit a 3 with 11 seconds left to tie it. Price missed a 3 and Adrien was off with the rebound, and it was time for the fourth overtime, making this the longest IESA game ever.
Price missed a drive with 10 seconds left in the fourth overtime and Easley had two shots blocked in the final seconds to end it to No. 5 tied at 104.
Price took an NBA-distance 3-pointer with 6 seconds left in the fifth overtime and it bounced off the rim to Adrien, who was short with a jumped at the buzzer, leaving the game tied at 110.
The players were exhausted and the most packed crowd in the whole tournament, everybody was watching this game, everybody was standing on their feet, awaiting the outcome.
Because 6 players had fouled out between the two teams, players who rarely saw action all season were thrown onto the court for the final 5 minutes.
"I'm beyond tired, right now, going to have to prepare for a tough game tomorrow, but I'm excited, tonight was fun and tiring, but I'll get over it," Eagles Jace Easley said.
Conor McCaffrey finished with 54 points (15-39 FG) 6-13 3P, 18-18 FT, including 13 rebounds 9 assists and 8 steals. The Eagles Point Guard averaged 11 points and 10 assists last season for the Eagles.
Jace Easley finished with 51 points (16-44 FG) 3-10 3P, 16-18 FT, including 24 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. The Eagles leading scorer last season averaged 16 points for a team who is currently unsure of their own capabilities.