Lausanne beats defending DII-A boys state champion Knoxville Webb in overtime to reach championship

NASHVILLE — Lausanne gave itself a second chance Thursday in the Division II-A boys basketball state semifinals.

And the Lynx responded.

Lausanne defeated defending Divison II-A state champion Knoxville Webb 63-55 in overtime at Lipscomb's Allen Arena to reach its first final since winning the 2017 championship.

Lausanne's Bo Montgomery scored four points in the final 15 seconds to tie the game. His 3-pointer with 15 seconds left trimmed Webb's lead to 51-50. Following two missed Luke Burnett free throws, Montgomery hit 1 of 2 free throws with six seconds left to tie it and send it into OT.

"We kept our heads up," Montgomery said of the Lynx's rally in regulation. "The game's never over so I just found an opportunity to get the ball and hit a wide-open shot and it happened to go in."

Lausanne (29-6) plays the winner of the FACS vs. Evangelical Christian School semifinal at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the championship. Webb finished 27-7.

Montgomery finished with 15 points. His three was his lone trey in three attempts.

"We were in control of the game and we just didn't finish it," Webb coach Ricky Norris said. "When you play good teams like that, you've got to put them away."

Lausanne 7-footer Moussa Cisse, the No. 8 college basketball prospect in the country for the Class of 2021 according to the 247Sports Composite, finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and blocked six shots. He disrupted the Spartans' offense, forcing players to not shoot layups with him nearby.

On defense the Spartans played a matchup zone.

"It's kind of frustrating," said Cisse of Webb's defensive strategy. "Sometimes it's three people on me. I fight through. That's when I work on my shot. (Thursday), my shot wasn't going in. 

"I wasn't trying to force anything."

Cisse was 7-of-12 from the field but missed two 3-point attempts. He also had a team-high four assists and had two steals.

Teammate Hayden Ledbetter added 13.

"We can't guard them man-to-man because of their size," Norris said. "So we went to a matchup (zone). We didn't want to double him up because he's such a good passer.

"They had some guys hit some big shots, especially later in the game. We definitely played well enough to win." 

Burnett led Webb with 18 points and was 4-of-6 from the 3-point line before fouling out in the last minute of overtime.

Reach Tom Kreager at tkreager@gannett.com and on Twitter @Kreager.