It took a pair of extra periods to separate the Soda Springs and West Side boys Monday evening at Soda Springs High School.

    The Pirates scored 13 points in the second overtime to the Cardinals’ six, and West Side prevailed 69-62.

    “It was tight the whole way through,” said Soda Springs head coach Greg Bergholm. “The second overtime they made their shots and we didn’t. They got a lead and sealed it with some free throws.”

    The win for West Side forces a decisive game tonight in Dayton. The winner earns the automatic bid to the state tournament while the loser must go through two play-in games to secure a berth.

    It was a close contest throughout with neither team outscoring the other by more than two points in either quarter.

    West Side led 21-18 at the half, but Soda Springs was able to close the gap in the third and fourth quarters to force overtime.

    “It was a hard-fought game and it could have gone either way,” Bergholm said.

    Mason Lemon scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Pirates. Tate Fuller added 17. The Cardinals were paced by Hunter Belnap’s 24 points.

    Soda Springs and West Side tipoff tonight at 7 p.m. in Dayton.

    “It’s two good teams going at it again,” Bergholm said. “I told the boys they have to put it behind them and get ready for tomorrow.”

West Side 69, Soda Springs 62, 2 OT

West Side    12    9    16    9    10    13 — 69

Soda Springs    10    8    17    11    10    6 — 62

West Side — Fuller 5 4-6 17, M. Turnbow 1 1-4 4, Allen 2 3-5 7, D. Turnbow 3 1-3 7, Lemon 9 6-6 28, Smart 3 0-2 6; Soda Springs — Goodenough 1 3-6 6, Schvaneveldt 1 0-0 3, Yamauchi 3 3-5 9, Finlayson 1 0-0 2, Spain 2 0-0 4, Belnap 7 8-9 24, Hayes 2 4-5 8, Allen 1 2-2 4, Sims 1 0-0 2.