Red Devils win wild one

MERRILLVILLE — It was like Merrillville and Lowell decided to squeeze out every remaining ounce of regular-season drama in one night.

After a wild game that featured three potential gamewinning possessions and two overtimes, Lowell was the victor in a thrilling 41-39 contest — the final regular-season game for both teams.

“It’s the perfect game for our guys to have those situations where you must make plays at the end,” Pirates (4-15) coach TJ Lux said. “The more close games that our guys can be in and get that experience, the better off we’ll be.”

Although Lowell (16-4) had the final points of the game, Merrillville had the final chance with time winding down in the second overtime. DJ Wilkins’ long 3 was off the mark, but Demetrious McKeethen hauled in the rebound and attempted one final shot, which was blocked by Lowell’s Zach Van Hook, just before time expired.

“I just saw someone fly in front of me and grab the ball, so I tried to make a play on him without fouling,” said Van Hook, who scored a game-high 22 points.

“We were just trying to keep the ball in front of us, force a jump shot and then rebound,” Lowell head coach Nate Richie said of that final play. “We didn’t rebound, but we were active enough to be able to get a piece of that putback.”

The drama started long before the second overtime.

At the end of regulation, the Pirates had the ball out of a timeout in a 35-35 tie with 21.8 seconds remaining. A traveling violation gave the ball to Lowell and — after a foul was called when it appeared the period had already ended — the Devils inbounded from under the basket.

Jayson Savich took the pass, but his quick shot was off the mark and the teams headed for the first overtime.