WILLIAMSTOWN — Like a pair of pit bulls, they kept scratching and clawing inside the cage, battling tooth and nail.

No one wanted to relent. No one was calling it quits.

In the end, the bold and brazen upstart Weatherly boys basketball team landed the final blow, pulling off a stunning 78-75 overtime win over Williams Valley in a true battle royal.

There was plenty at stake in this Schuylkill Boys Basketball League Division 2 showdown. A Williams Valley win, combined with a Nativity loss to Lourdes, would have created a three-way tie in the final regular-season game.

That scenario never materialized, as Nativity secured a win and a berth in Saturday’s first round of the league playoffs at Pottsville’s Martz Hall.

What remained was an exhilarating overtime thriller.

Weatherly never trailed in the extra session. The Wreckers took control when Dominick Kokinda sank two free throws, then followed with a sensational spin move to give his team a 71-68 lead — his ninth and final point of the night.

“It was insane,” Kokinda said, his heart still pounding. “When I got to that free-throw line, it was the most nervous I’ve ever been in my life.”

He delivered, and the Wreckers fed off it. Still, it felt as though the game rested in the hands of Weatherly’s standout guards, Ian McKeegan and Corbin Wagner.

Williams Valley hung tough, but McKeegan answered with a 3-pointer for a 74-70 lead with 1:44 remaining. Forty seconds later, he sank two critical free throws. Wagner then forced the only turnover of overtime, swatting the ball away. Weatherly capped it with a defensive stand, denying the Vikings a final shot beyond the arc as the buzzer sounded.

“I say it all the time, basketball has a lot of ups and downs ... it’s like life, then you’ve got to regroup,” Weatherly coach Luke Medico said.

Weatherly’s Matt Adler, the wiry 6-foot-3 junior center who eventually fouled out, said he reminded himself, “... when we got that lead, in overtime, we can’t let this lead get away.”

The Wreckers were especially relentless late. They nearly fell off the cliff when Williams Valley opened the fourth quarter with a run that gave it a 57-49 lead in the first two minutes.

Weatherly didn’t wave a white flag.

The comeback began with Adler’s basket, set up by Kokinda. That duo proved vital down the stretch, keeping Weatherly alive in regulation. Time and again, they cleaned up missed shots. When they didn’t, McKeegan and Wagner stepped in as a relentless tag team.

Even after Williams Valley briefly regained momentum — sparked by an acrobatic reverse layup from Evan Kandybowski and a 3-pointer from Chris Dickerson that made it 62-57 — Weatherly stayed composed.

Wagner then took center stage, scoring seven straight points to give the Wreckers a 64-62 lead. Williams Valley answered once more, as Kandybowski put his team ahead 66-64 with 18 seconds remaining.

Niko Saldukas responded with a fearless 3-pointer, lifting Weatherly to a 67-66 lead with five seconds left.

The Weatherly faithful erupted, but the drama wasn’t finished. Kandybowski was fouled as time expired. He missed the first free throw, made the second, and forced overtime.

“These kids came up with the attitude of keep pushing forward ... but I don’t know if I can do this for too long, I keep getting older,” Medico said with a smile.

QUOTABLE I ... “Ah, we’re used to feeling pressure, but it’s a mindset as coach says.” — Adler on the overtime win.

QUOTABLE II ... “Before that four-minute period, we said keep the energy and pace going, score and run the clock.” — Kokinda on Weatherly’s overtime approach.

SKYING HIGH ... Adler led Weatherly with 11 of its 36 rebounds. Achenbach grabbed 13 of Williams Valley’s 39.

LETTING IT FLY ... Weatherly shot 29-for-70, hit nine 3-pointers and went 11-for-19 from the free-throw line. Williams Valley shot 28-for-58, made nine 3s and went 10-for-18 at the line.

SOLID PLAY ... Williams Valley’s Kandybowski led all scorers with 26 points. Dickerson had 18, Achenbach 12 and Bryce Zilinski 10.

WEATHERLY

I. McKeegan 10-5-6-29, Wagner 8-1-2-21, Saldukas 4-2-4-11, Kokinda 3-3-3-9, Adler 4-0-2-8. Davis 0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 29-11-19-78.

WILLIAMS VALLEY

Kandybowski 10-3-4-26, Dickerson 6-2-2-18, Achenbach 5-2-4-12, B. Zilinski 4-2-4-10, Rodriguez 3-1-4-9, Rautzahn 0-0-0-0, K. Zilinski 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 28-10-18-75.

Weatherly 13 17 16 21 11 - 78

Williams Valley 20 10 20 17 8 - 75

Three-pointers: Weatherly - I. McKeegan 4, Wagner 4, Saldukas 1; Williams Valley - Dickerson 4, Kandybowski 3, Rodriguez 2.

Records: Weatherly (14-7; 7-7); Williams Valley (9-12; 7-7).