TORONTO — The Toronto boys’ basketball let a double-digit advantage slip away as Lisbon was ultimately able to force overtime.

Toronto responded in the extra period as No. 1 seeded Red Knights were able to right the ship and hold on and defeat the fourth-seeded Blue Devils, 88-80, in an OVAC Class 2A Tournament Semifinal Tuesday night inside the George J. Kunzler Memorial Gymnasium.

“It was a great high school basketball game,” Toronto (17-3) head coach Sean Tucker said. “It was a great game between two former EOAC rivals. It was a good outcome for us.”

The boys from the Gem City led 23-9 at the end of the first quarter, however, the visitors from Columbiana County battled back and tied the game on a pair of free throws with 3.2 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.

“It was a great high school basketball game, 100 percent,” Lisbon (13-5) head coach Chris Huckshold said. “It was a great game. It was a good experience for us. “They were able to get the momentum early. They played with a lot of excitement. We did not match their energy for the first quarter or quarter-and-a-half. We came out and played really well in the second half. We hit a couple clutch free throws to send the game into overtime. That was huge for our kids. We played a lot better on offense in the second half. We did not shoot the ball well from the free-throw line. We were 19-of-34. That killed us.”

After the visitors tied the score at 66, the hosts had an opportunity to win the game at the end of regulation, however, Toronto was not able to convert sending the game into overtime.

The visitors had the momentum on their side, however, the Red Knights stole it right back as the victors recorded the first eight points of the period to build a 74-66 advantage. Lisbon battled back and a turnover led to a layup on the other end as the Blue Devils pulled to within 78-74 forcing Tucker to call a timeout with 1:36 left to play.

The Red Knights had their backs up against the wall, however, the hosts rose to the occasion as they extended their advantage to 84-75 with 26.6 seconds still showing on the scoreboard clock. The Blue Devils hit a 3 to pull within six, but they were unable to get any closer as the Red Knights held on for their 11-straight victory.

“When we got to overtime, our defense really stepped up,” Tucker said. “We talked to the guys throughout the game about our defense has to lead to our offense. Our energy comes from our defense. When we do not play solid defense, good things do not happen.

“Give Lisbon credit. They knocked down some key shots, and we didn’t. I think we were up 18. We were able to get the lead. We had the momentum, and we were playing with confidence.

“We are senior heavy. We have been put to the test all season. We have to be not concerned about the outside noise. We have to be focused. That is what has gotten us to this point, and we have to execute. We have to make our free throws. We have to be able to finish at the line. That is what we need to do.”

The Red Knights ended the game 18-of-31 from the foul line.

“In overtime, we made our free throws,” Tucker said. “We put the ball in the hands of the right guys, and we were able to make our free throws. I am not sure what we were from the line in overtime, but it was a lot better than what we were in regulation.”

With the win, Toronto will take on No. 2 seed Caldwell in the tournament final at 2 p.m. Saturday at the ECO Center down in St. Clairsville. Caldwell advanced to the title tilt by defeating No. 3 seed Bridgeport, 72-52, Tuesday night at home in the other semifinal.

“We are going to have to play our style of basketball,” Tucker said. “It’s not going to be easy. We lost in the OVAC Finals to a team that went on to win a state title. We lost to a team in the OVAC Finals that went to the regional tournament. We are going to have to go out and play a team ranked in the state of Ohio, and so are we. It is not easy. Winning an OVAC championship in our division is not easy. We have been there before. We are going to have to be ready to play. We are going to have to play hungry.”

With the loss, Lisbon will play Bridgeport Friday night on the road. This is the first year the Blue Devils have competed in the OVAC Tournament.

“We are the rookie in this,” Huckshold said. “Last year was our first year in the league, but we did not play in the tournament. This is a good experience. It’s big for teams in the valley. We are up north. When you are in the valley, growing up playing in this is ingrained in you. We talked about it before the game. For our younger guys, they will have the goal of making it to the OVAC Tournament and getting down to the ECO Center. It is a process. We are trying to develop that desire to play in this.”

Austin Buchanan contributed a game-high 33 points to lead the way offensively for Toronto. Buchanan was one of four Red Knights to reach double digits in scoring. Colt Joynson (18 points), Brady Fair (16) and Landon Grimes (10) also reached double figures for the winners.

“We played against them in the EOAC,” Huckshold said. “Two old farts like us are not going to change. A tiger is not going to change its stripes.”

AJ Ramgeet, who played at Oak Glen before transferring to Lisbon, tallied a team-high 30 points to lead the way for the Blue Devils, Aidan Ramgeet collected 24 and Logan Sturgeon netted 11.

“We watched them on film,” Tucker said. “We knew what they were going to do. They have some really good shooters. They are similar to us. It was a really good game. Now, we have to prepare for Saturday. Their personnel is similar to what we are going to see Saturday.

“We are going to have to play four quarters of basketball on Saturday. We have talked about that. You don’t always play four quarters of basketball, but sometimes you are able to get away with it depending on the level of team you are playing. Caldwell has a very good program, and if we do not play four quarters of basketball against them, we are not going to be able to get away with it.”

The home team got off to a fast start as they built a 23-9 lead at the end of the first.

“In the first half, we played solid defense and that led to our offense,” Tucker said. “We were able to force them into taking some bad shots. We were able to speed them up and force them to do things they did not want to do. We made them uncomfortable.

“We got lackadaisical in the second half. We weren’t playing good defense. We let them get downhill. We did not rotate. We have to do a better job of rotating. We have to have solid rotations. We are going to have to look at the film and check our personnel to see who is not playing strong at this point. We may have to make some changes.”

Toronto was able to increase its advantage, however, Lisbon began its comeback in the second. The Blue Devils outscored the boys in white by three in the quarter to pull within 39-28 heading into the locker room at halftime.

Lisbon really got going in the third as it outscored Toronto, 15-6, in the quarter to close to within just two points at 45-43 entering the fourth.

“We made shots,” Huckshold said. “That was really the key. We did not rebound well early in the game. We were giving them good shots, and we were allowing them to get extra shots. Then, we started to rebound better. We started to control the boards, and we went on a run. It was a good game. It was a dogfight both ways.”

The Blue-and-White got the ball to start the fourth with a chance to tie the score or possibly take the lead, however, they were unable to capitalize on their first offensive possession.

Toronto capitalized on the missed opportunity as the Red Knights netted the first six points of the fourth to build a 51-43 lead, however, the Blue Devils did not go away quietly into the night. A 3-pointer pulled them to within 53-50 before Toronto tallied the next five to go back up by eight, however, the determined Blue Devils simply did not go away.

A three-point play pulled Lisbon to within 62-58, and another made it 63-62 with 55.2 seconds remaining in regulation. Toronto converted a pair of shots from the charity stripe to go up by three before Lisbon answered right back with two of its own to pull back within one.

The Red Knights hit 1-of-2 from the line to go up 66-64 with 26.5 seconds on the clock, however, they missed a pair with 11.4 seconds showing on the clock as the Blue Devils called a timeout with 7.5 seconds left to set up a play before ultimately drawing a foul and hitting a pair from the line to send the game into overtime.

“The game came down to free throws,” Tucker said. “We missed putbacks, we missed layups and we did not finish from the free-throw line. When you don’t finish from the line, you put yourself in bad situations.

Toronto was a member of the EOAC for two years from 2017-18 through 2018-19.

Toronto 88, Lisbon 80 OT

Lisbon 9 19 15 23 14 – 80

Toronto 23 16 6 21 22 – 88

LISBON (13-5): A. Ramgeet 7 6-6 24, Barnes 3 0-0 7, Myers 3 0-4 6, Hinchliffe 0 2-4 2, Sturgeon 5 1-1 11, Terdina 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 0-0 0, AJ. Ramgeet 9 10-10 30. TOTALS: 27 19-34 80.

TORONTO (17-3): Grimes 1 7-8 10, Joyson 9 0-6 18, Winters 1 5-6 7, Buchanan 13 4-5 33, Fair 7 2-6 16, Henry 1 0-0 2, Rebich 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 33 18-31 88.

3-POINTERS: Lisbon 7 (A. Ramgett 4, R. Ramgeet 2, Barnes); Toronto 4 (Buchanan 3, Grimes)