Austin Brady made a key layup with 8.6 seconds to go as host Marlington came back from a double-digit deficit to stun Northwest 63-61 on Tuesday night.

LEXINGTON TWP.  With the game on the line and the clock winding down, Marlington big man Austin Brady had just one thought when he found himself under the basket and in position to give the Dukes the lead for the first time all night.

"I was just hoping I didn't mess it up," Brady said with a laugh. "It was a nerve wracking situation. Reece (Kackley) made a perfect pass and I had good position. I knew I needed to score."

The outcome was never in doubt. Brady powered the ball up past two Northwest defenders for a layup to give Marlington a 62-61 lead with 8.6 seconds to play. The home gym erupted. The basket put an exclamation point on a 26-point, 19-rebound effort by Brady.

"That was the best feeling in the world," Brady said. "We were down all night. I can't really describe what it felt like when I saw everybody in the crowd going nuts."

Michael Huberty would give the home faithful something else to cheer about. Northwest tried to inbound the ball quickly, but Huberty alertly swiped the ball and was quickly fouled. He sunk a free throw with 6.6 seconds left to wrap up Marlington's 63-61 victory on Tuesday.

"That was a huge play Michael made for us at the end," Marlington head coach Nick Evanich said. "He didn't have the kind of night scoring that he wanted to have, but he did other things to help us. He had eight assists and came up with that big steal."

Huberty had nine points for Marlington.

Northwest managed to get a final shot off that would have tied the game, but it was well off the mark. It was a stunning turn of events for the Indians, who led 31-16 at one point in the first half.

"It was a tough situation," Brady said. "We stuck with it. We kept our heads up and kept playing. We didn't worry about the score. We just kept playing and trying to cut into the deficit."

Brady's presence had a great deal to do with the turnaround. He was a big factor why the Dukes out-rebounded Northwest 41-21.

"Austin Brady was outstanding tonight," Evanich said. "He was tremendous. He had nine offensive rebounds for us. That gave us a lot of second-chance opportunities. It really helped us get back in the game."

The other half of the equation was stellar defense. Few did it better than Kackley. Though he didn't score, Kackley limited Northwest leading-scorer Scott Wormald to just six points. He also got the key assist on Brady's final basket that gave the Dukes the lead.

"Reece played tremendous defense," Evanich said. "You can't talk about this game without talking about Reece. Scott Wormald is a great player and Reece did a great job on him all night. He made a major impact in this game. No doubt about it."

Still, it wasn't easy. Marlington cut the lead to as few as two points in the third quarter but Northwest extended the advantage to as many as eight again before the Dukes were finally able to surge past the Indians in the closing moments.

"We just kept fighting," Brady said. "We didn't let ourselves get frustrated. We hung with it."

The Dukes got help from Blane Himmelheber and Andrew Pucci. Himmelheber added 17 points for Marlington. Pucci also scored 10 points and did an excellent job of protecting the rim. Pucci had three emphatic blocked shots.

The victory could be the start of big things as the schedule turns to the mid-way point of the season for the Dukes.

"This is going to bring our confidence way up," Brady said. "That was a really great team. To be able to come back and get the win tonight was special."

Luke Fennell led Northwest with 18 points and seven rebounds. Grant Baughman added 14 points for the Indians.

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