TORONTO — The Toronto boys’ basketball let a double-digit advantage slip away as Lisbon was ultimately able to force overtime.

Toronto responded in the extra period as No. 1 seeded Red Knights were able to right the ship and hold on and defeat the fourth-seeded Blue Devils, 88-80, in an OVAC Class 2A Tournament semifinal Tuesday night at the George J. Kunzler Memorial Gymnasium.

“It was a great high school basketball game,” Toronto (17-3) head coach Sean Tucker said. “It was a great game between two former EOAC rivals. It was a good outcome for us.”

The Knights led 23-9 at the end of the first quarter, however, the Blue Devils battled back and tied the game on a pair of free throws with 3.2 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.

“It was a great high school basketball game, 100 percent,” Lisbon (13-5) head coach Chris Huckshold said. “It was a great game. It was a good experience for us. “They were able to get the momentum early. They played with a lot of excitement. We did not match their energy for the first quarter or quarter-and-a-half. We came out and played really well in the second half. We hit a couple clutch free throws to send the game into overtime. That was huge for our kids. We played a lot better on offense in the second half. We did not shoot the ball well from the free-throw line. We were 19-of-34. That killed us.”

With the win, Toronto will take on No. 2 seed Caldwell in the tournament final at 2 p.m. Saturday at the ECO Center in St. Clairsville. Caldwell advanced to the title tilt by defeating No. 3 seed Bridgeport, 72-52, Tuesday night at home in the other semifinal.

With the loss, Lisbon will play Bridgeport Friday night on the road. This is the first year the Blue Devils have competed in the OVAC tournament.

“We are the rookie in this,” Huckshold said. “Last year was our first year in the league, but we did not play in the tournament. This is a good experience. It’s big for teams in the valley. We are up north. When you are in the valley, growing up playing in this is ingrained in you. We talked about it before the game. For our younger guys, they will have the goal of making it to the OVAC tournament and getting down to the ECO Center. It is a process. We are trying to develop that desire to play in this.”

AJ Ramgeet, who played at Oak Glen before transferring to Lisbon, tallied a team-high 30 points to lead the way for the Blue Devils, Aidan Ramgeet collected 24 and Logan Sturgeon netted 11.

LI: 9 19 15 23 14 — 80

TO: 23 16 6 21 22 — 88

LISBON (13-5): A. Ramgeet 7 6-6 24, Barnes 3 0-0 7, Myers 3 0-4 6, Hinchliffe 0 2-4 2, Sturgeon 5 1-1 11, Terdina 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 0-0 0, AJ. Ramgeet 9 10-10 30. TOTALS: 27 19-34 80.

TORONTO (17-3): Grimes 1 7-8 10, Joyson 9 0-6 18, Winters 1 5-6 7, Buchanan 13 4-5 33, Fair 7 2-6 16, Henry 1 0-0 2, Rebich 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 33 18-31 88.

3-POINTERS: Lisbon 7 (A. Ramgett 4, R. Ramgeet 2, Barnes); Toronto 4 (Buchanan 3, Grimes)