DUNMORE — The members of the Old Forge boys basketball team may have gone to bed Tuesday thinking a night’s sleep would help reduce the sting of their latest, heartbreaking road loss.
Then, they awoke to visions of Brayden Canavan’s steal and last-second, 40-footer being shown repeatedly on national television and going viral on social media.
The Blue Devils put together a spirited comeback against the Lackawanna League Division 2 leaders and had the ball coming out of a timeout with the game tied and 2.1 seconds left.
What happened next put Canavan on ESPN’s SportsCenter as the No. 1 choice of the 10 Top Plays in sports from around the world that night.
Canavan tipped away Old Forge’s attempt to send a pass to 6-foot-6 center Logan Fanning at midcourt. Canavan then pounced on the loose ball on one hop and went right up for the game-winning shot from a few strides inside halfcourt.
The shot, and the resulting celebration of Dunmore’s 69-66 win, were captured on video from many different angles by professional and amateur videographers alike and shared in many ways.
Old Forge recovered to win at Honesdale 73-49 Thursday, leaving the Blue Devils 6-2 in the division and 11-4 overall. The Blue Devils have a solid hold on the race for the top seed in the District 2 Class 2A tournament, where they are the defending champions. They are unbeaten at home with road losses by a total of 21 points against opponents with combined records of 53-11.
Old Forge 73, Honesdale 49
Old Forge showed incredible balance in its bounce-back victory, with three players sharing team scoring honors and five finishing in double figures in points.
Logan Fanning, Camren Krushnowski, and Ryan DeMarco all scored 15 points. Cameron Parker had 14 and Robby Solfanelli had 10.
Fanning, who is shooting well over 70 percent from the floor while averaging a double-double, also had 13 points, four assists, and three blocked shots. DeMarco had three steals and three assists. Parker grabbed six rebounds.
Levi Martin led Honesdale with 14 points.
Dunmore 69, Old Forge 66
Brayden Canavan’s game-winner gave him 26 points. He also grabbed eight rebounds.
Logan Fanning finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and two blocks for Old Forge.
Cameron Parker scored 16 points, and Ryan DeMarco had 10. Arthur Askew came off the bench to add eight.
Dunmore, which added a win Thursday to improve to 8-0 and 15-1, got 18 points from Jimmy Clark and 17 from Carter Sload.
The Bucks, coming off a 97-point effort at Honesdale four days earlier, jumped out to a 19-7 lead in the first 4:05. Canavan buried his first three 3-point attempts, including one for a 24-13 lead with 2:20 left in the first quarter.
Old Forge got back in the game with 10 straight points, the first half of which were produced by Parker.
The Blue Devils cooled off the Bucks’ offense in the second half and led by as much as seven.
Dunmore, which finished 13-for-26 from long range, made its last three 3-pointers. Clark and Sload connected in a 10-2 surge to first tie the game, then put the Bucks in front.
Askew’s rebound and assist set up DeMarco to tie the game on a 3-pointer with 43.4 seconds left.
Old Forge made a late defensive stop, controlled the rebound, and called a timeout, leading to the final sequence.
