Cranston West junior Andrew Levy missed the potential game-winning shot at the end of regulation Saturday night in the Division I playoffs. Levy had an open look and he had Central in his crosshairs. His offering was on target and, for a second, the Falcons appeared to be heading directly to the semifinals. Until the ball drew the front of the iron and fell harmlessly to the court.

Fortunately for the Falcons, the score was still tied – and Levy wouldn’t come up short again.

Levy, like he had been throughout Saturday’s contest, was a monster in overtime. He put the Falcons on his shoulders, scoring nine of West’s 12 points in the extra period and led the team to a 64-59 win over the Knights in the D-I quarterfinals. It was the third time the Falcons had taken Central to overtime this season – and it was West’s first winning effort.

“Third time’s the charm I guess,” Cranston West head coach Jim Moretti said. “It’s tough to beat a good team three times. And playing three overtime games against the same team in one year is unheard of. But, after three overtimes, we finally got a win.”

It didn’t come easily. The Falcons held a slim lead throughout the second half until Central took a 44-43 advantage on a Jamal Pinkston layup with five minutes remaining in the game. Over the final five minutes, the two sides battled their way through two ties and five lead changes, going the distance and then some.

Both teams had chances to pull away at the end of regulation. With the score knotted at 52-52, the Falcons turned the ball over on an inbounds pass with 10.4 seconds left to play. Central’s next possession didn’t go much better. West senior Vinny Cortellessa stole the inbounds and called a quick timeout to set up the Falcons’ final play with 4.1 seconds remaining in the second half.

When Levy’s last-second shot came up short, the teams braced themselves for their third overtime in as many meetings. Central won 63-61 in late December and came away with a 60-56 win in the final week of the regular season.

None of that seemed to bother West on Saturday night.

Levy hit a pair of free throws to make it 54-52 and, after Central tied the game again, he knocked down a three from the top of the key to put West back in front. Junior Steve Rush knocked down a pair of free throws to push the Falcons’ edge to five, making it a two-possession game for the first time since West led 43-39.

“Levy and Rush both played great, but I think that Rush was really the unsung hero of this game,” Moretti said. “We know what we’re going to get with Levy, but Rush hit some big shots for us. He was immense in this game.”

Levy and Rush both hit free throws down the stretch to preserve the win for the Falcons. As a team, West shot 4-for-12 from the free throw line in regulation. As a pair, Levy and Rush went 7-for-8 from the line in overtime.

“I was a little nervous because we lost to them twice in overtime and I didn’t want to lose to them again,” Levy said. “And you don’t want to be the guy to lose the game because of free throws. You can’t do that. I knew how important those shots were and I knew how mad coach would have been if I didn’t make them. I’m glad that they went in.”

Levy hit five three-pointers and led all scorers with 28 points. Rush added 13 points, Jeff Diehl contributed eight and Eric Rosa had four. Central used an effective trap to limit junior point guard Bryan Yarce, one of West’s top playmakers, to nine points.

“Their trap was giving us problems all night,” Moretti said. “They were running two guys at Yarce all game and they really frustrated us on offense. You have to give them a lot of credit for that.”

Central’s trap defense didn’t just affect Yarce’s point-production; it took a toll on his distribution as well. West’s turnovers doubled in the second half as the Knights rallied from a five-point halftime deficit and applied heavier ball-pressure.

“They were double-teaming me all game,” Yarce said. “That got me a little frustrated but my team helped me out. They told me that I didn’t need to be the one to score, I just had to keep distributing the ball and everyone else would take care of the scoring. That helped me keep my cool out there.”

West only turned the ball over once in overtime.

Saturday’s win sent the Falcons to the D-I semifinals, where they faced North Kingstown on Tuesday night. That game was played after the Herald’s deadline and a recap will appear in next week’s edition. The Skippers won the only regular season meeting, 74-64.

“This is a young team and it is great for them to get a win like this,” Moretti said. “We know that North Kingstown is going to be tough but we’ve got so much confidence coming out of this game.”

With a win, West would advance to the championship game to take on the winner of Tuesday’s Bishop Hendricken/Woonsocket match-up. The Division I finals will be held Sunday at the Ryan Center at 6 p.m.

“Our confidence is very high,” Levy said. “A lot of people didn’t think that we could make it here and look at what we’ve done so far. We’ve got a long way to go and we’re going to have to keep working really hard, but I think we can surprise a lot of people. I think we can win the championship.”