Marcus Johnson beats the shot clock, sinks 3 in OT to lead Genoa-Kingston past Indian Creek

SHABBONA – Marcus Johnson beat the shot clock with his 3-pointer late in overtime, and Genoa-Kingston outlasted Indian Creek 64-56 on Friday night.

“Coach told me we only had like 10 seconds left [on the shot clock],” Johnson said. [The defender] was sagging off of me. ... It’s a huge shot, so I’m going to take it.”

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Genoa-Kingston's Nathan Kleba gets caught between two Indian Creek defenders during their game Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, at Indian Creek High School in Shabbona. (Mark Busch)

It gave the Cogs a 60-54 lead with 1:03 left in the overtime.

“We play so quickly, so when they asked us [about the shot clock] I knew it wouldn’t affect us offensively much, but thought about it for end-of-game stuff,” Genoa-Kingston coach Griffin McNeal said. “But it’s good stuff to run and good practice to have that. It’s an advantage any game you can get with that. We had to think about it at at the end of the game.”

If not for the shot clock, Johnson probably doesn’t take the 3-pointer that broke the game open.

“We were talking about it and at 45 to 60 seconds we hold it normally,” McNeal said. “We couldn’t because of the shot clock. It makes it a little bit different. It was a great experience. I’m glad they had it up and ready to go.”

Johnson led a balanced offensive attack with 15 points.

“Marcus is only a junior, but he’s hit some big shots and had some big games,” McNeal said. “Between him and Hayden [Hodgson], they’ve been making big shots all year.”

Nate Kleba, Jack Peterson and Blake Ides each scored 10 points and Hayden Hodgson had nine points and eight rebounds for the Cogs. Hodgson also took a charge with the Cogs leading 52-51 in the final minute of regulation.

“It’s fun playing in games like this, it’s more fun than blowouts,” Hodgson said, “I just love how we move the ball. I know if I pass it I’m going to get it back [or] if we keep passing it, we’ll eventually get an open shot.”

Genoa-Kingston (6-6) tied the game at 54-54 in regulation on Johnson’s layup with 1:29 left.

After neither team would budge defensively or produce a game-winner at the buzzer, the OT became inevitable. Johnson was the aggressor at the start of the OT and it ultimately made the difference. First, he drew a foul from beyond the arc, making his three free-throw attempts for a 57-54 lead.

With both offenses stagnating, the score wouldn’t change until Johnson big-time 3 with the clock winding down.

“We just kept on battling,” Johnson said. “We didn’t want to come out slow and be two games away from .500. So it was a big game for us to get rolling, and now we want to keep on rolling.”

Indian Creek (12-5) didn’t score in overtime until Logan Schrader’s putback with 18 seconds remaining.

“Frustrating that it didn’t go our way, but it kind of is what it is,” Indian Creek coach Nolan Govig said. “A back and forth game, but man, we had plenty of opportunities. We missed a lot of shots within five feet of the basket and failed to rebound the basketball. And I felt that was the difference between the win and the loss today.”

Indian Creek trailed 29-27 but came out and scored the first nine points of the third quarter to take a 36-29 lead. It was its biggest one of the night that started with a bucket inside from Payton Hueber.

Schrader followed by burying a 3-pointer. Everett Willis then shot and made the Timberwolves' first free throws of the night before Hueber finished the run, sinking a long two.

“We talked about rebounding the basketball, being strong with it and finishing underneath the rim,” Govig said. “That’s what led to a 9-0 run, but then those things started to lack and that was the difference the rest of the game.

Hueber had 20 points, Schrader scored 19 and Willis had 12 rebounds to lead the Timberwolves.