By Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

WAVERLY — Legendary ventriloquist Shari Lewis had several puppets that included Lamb Chop and Charlie Horse and they would drive her crazy by singing a song “This Is The Song That Doesn’t End. It Just Goes On and One My Friend…”

And the song goes on and on much like the Division 3 district semifinal between second-seed Fairland and the 7th-seeded Alexander Spartans that needed 3 overtimes before the Dragons survived to win 60-58.

“I’m exhausted,” said Fairland coach Nathan Speed with a laugh as his team advanced to Friday’s district finals against South Point at 9 p.m. in the Waverly downtown arena.

The Dragons got three huge 3-pointers that kept the song, er, game going. Aiden Porter hit a trifecta with five seconds left to tie the game at 38.

Porter fouled out in the first overtime and it was freshman Brody Buchanan who hit the clutch triple with less than 10 seconds left to tie the game at 42.

In the second overtime, Fairland got a 3-pointer from Chase Allen with seconds left and it was 52-all.

Speed said there is no quit in his team.

“That’s what’s stood out this year. Our kids don’t quit. They absolutely battled. We are going to play hard and we are going to battle until the last second,” said Speed.

“Just like tonight. We didn’t get down, we continue to play hard, we found a way to make plays and had good defensive stops at the right times.”

Alexander (15-10) was up 56-54 on a layup by Jace Ervin with under 2 minutes left but J.D. Thacker made a foul shot and Buchanan made 3-of-4 foul shots for a 58-56 lead.

Zach Barnhouse made a layup off a nice pass from Kyler D’Augustino that tied the game at 58 only to have Thacker bank in a shot with 7 seconds to play for the win.

Neither team shot well at the foul line. Fairland connected on 17-of-29 while Alexander was just 13-of-28. The Spartans hurt themselves with 21 turnovers to just 8 for Fairland.

Fairland led just 7-5 after the first quarter and 17-11 at the half as Alexander controlled the tempo and kept the game slowed down.

Porter hit a 3-pointer but then D’Augustino scored 8 straight points to begin the second half and a layup by Jagger Cain gave the Spartans a 21-20 lead.

D’Augustino’s trey and Ervin’s layup made it 26-22 but Porter buried a triple and it was 26-25 to end the quarter.

Alexander opened up a 36-31 lead on two baskets by Braydon McKee and two foul shots by Alexander Norris.

But Porter went 4-for-5 at the line and hit the big 3-pointer to force overtime. He fouled with 2:01 left in the overtime.

The scoring was slow in the first overtime. D’Augustino made two foul shots for a 42-39 lead but that’s when Buchanan hit his big shot to force a second OT.

A foul shot by McKee and a layup by Ervin had Alexander up 52-49 with seconds left in the second overtime but Allen’s drained his 3-pointer and the game was tied again at 52.

Porter led Fairland (19-5) with 20 points. Allen got 14 points and 3 assists while Thacker and Buchanan had 10 points each.

Augustino scored a game-high 31 points to go with 10 rebounds and 2 assists. Ervin had 10 points and 8 rebounds while McKee grabbed 10 boards.

Alexander 5 6 15 12 4 10 6 = 58

Fairland         7 10 8 13 4 10 8 = 60

ALEXANDER (15-10): Dylan Allison 0 0 1-2 1, Jagger Cain 1 0 1-7 3, Braydon McKee 3 0 1-2 7, Jace Ervin 5 0 0-1 10, Kyler D’Augustino 8 2 9-14 31, Alex Norris 0 0 2-2 2, Levi Thompson 0 0 0-0 0, Zach Barnhouse 2 0 0-0 4. Totals: 21-46 13-28 58. 3-pt goals: 2-12. Rebounds: 45 (McKee 10, D’Augustino 10, Ervin 8). Assists: 2 (D’Augustino 2). Steals: 3. Turnovers: 21. Fouls: 23. Fouled out: Cain (2OT 2:30), McKee (3OT 1:44), Norris.

FAIRLAND (19-5): Will Davis 0 1 0-0 3, Aiden Porter 2 3 7-12 20, J.D. Thacker 3 1 1-2 10, Chase Allen 1 3 2-4 14, Steeler Leep 1 0 0-0 2, Zion Martin 0 0 0-0 0, Zach Tooley 0 0 0-0 0, Brycen Hunt 0 0 1-2 1, Brody Buchanan 1 1 5-8 10. Totals: 17-63 16-29 60. 3-pt goals: 9-32. Rebounds: 28 (Davis 5, Hunt 5). Assists: 6 (Allen 3, Leep 2). Steals: 8 (Allen 3, Davis 2). Fouls: 24. Fouled out: Leep (4th 2:49, Porter (OT 2:01), Davis (2OT 1:40).