WINTHROP – Winthrop High School senior Andrew Smithgall’s face was flushed that alarming, angry, purple shade of red, as if he were a contestant on a weight-loss television show that just finished dragging a 200-pound wheelbarrow up the friendly side of a cliff.

His rookie coach, Tyler Hunt, apologetically fidgeted with his temples, his thoughts drifting to the acetaminophen in his immediate future.

And those were Thursday night’s winners. Smithgall scored 10 of his 22 points after the end of regulation, and Winthrop sank all six of its field goal attempts in the second overtime to finally dismiss Hall-Dale, 85-78, in perhaps the game of the year in Mountain Valley Conference boys’ basketball.

Nineteen ties. Eleven lead changes. Eight players in double figures. Two teams that nobody else bound for the Western Class C tournament wants to see in a preliminary or quarterfinal contest.

“That was an intense game,” said Smithgall. “I never thought we were going to go double overtime.”

Zach Farrington nailed the Ramblers’ lone 3-pointer of the evening from the right corner with 2:23 remaining in the second extra session to put Winthrop (10-3) ahead for good. David Ketchen, Smithgall and Farrington each added a key bucket down the stretch.

Farrington also concluded with 22 points along with five steals. Ketchen was an explosive scorer in the first half (15 of his 17 points) and a persistent playmaker thereafter (13 assists).

“He had a massive game,” Hunt said of his senior point guard. “We settled for a lot of mid-range shots early. Then we decided to pound it in there, and that’s where we were successful.”

Skylar Whaley chalked up 10 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots in the paint. Whaley and Chad Morang combined for 14 points in the third period, when Farrington and Ketchen went scoreless.

“In the past games it’s been Zach and I who have been scoring,” Smithgall said. “It’s nice when you have Dave step up and Skylar and Chad.”

Keith McGillivary led the Bulldogs (6-8) with 19 points, six in the overtime stanzas. Dylan Dupont delivered 17 points and eight rebounds.

Tyler Cummings scratched out 16 points and six assists, including a contested, 10-foot jumper from an impossible angle along the baseline to tie the game with 24 seconds remaining in the first OT. It was the third time Hall-Dale erased a Winthrop lead in that four-minute chapter.

“It was a great game of basketball,” said Hall-Dale coach Jim Patrick. “We had a couple of tough breaks, whether it was a dribble off the front or an alternating possession. What are you going to do? Our kids were tired, too.”

Ryan Leach added 12 points for Hall-Dale, capped by his drive to the hoop that tied it at 66 with 20 seconds left on the regulation clock.

The Ramblers strung together a Whaley put-back, Farrington’s short baseline jumper, Smithgall’s steal and subsequent cash-in on the fast break and a tough 10-footer in the paint by Farrington to reverse a 57-53 deficit into a 61-57 lead.

Leach, Cummings and Tim Day responded with six straight Hall-Dale points to reclaim the lead. Whaley’s drive knotted the issue again with 2:12 to go. Heavy pressure in the half-court by Smithgall then set up a steal and a traditional 3-point play by Farrington for a 66-63 edge with 1:08 left.

“We’ve started playing team defense. That has been the turnaround point,” said Ketchen, referring to Winthrop’s run of three losses in four games after a 7-0 start. “We sat down and talked about team play over individual play.”

Winthrop’s nine-point lead late in the second OT was its largest of the night. Hall-Dale led by eight after a 10-2 run to open the game.

Otherwise, after Hall-Dale concluded the first quarter with a 20-18 advantage, the scales never tipped more than four points in either direction. The Ramblers kept pace by shooting 38-for-66 (57 percent) from the field.

“The first half we didn’t play very good defense. Second half, we switched up defenses and made the adjustments to get a win tonight,” Hunt said. “This is not the same Hall-Dale team I saw the first half of the year. They’ve lost to (undefeated) Dirigo and us the second half. They’re going to scare somebody in the tournament.”