By HUNTER O. LYLE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
DUKE CENTER, PA — As they walked into the locker room at halftime, the Lady Terrors’ lead had been whittled down to just five points. While they had started hot, they had recently settled into a lull on both sides of the court which allowed their opponents, Allegany-Limestone, back into the game.
But defense was their specialty and they had been in this position before. All they needed to do was find their rhythm and trust their resilience. Little did they know, the Gators’ second quarter spark was about to turn into a blaze, one that would completely turn the tables and hand Otto-Eldred a defiant 56-45 comeback loss, the first of the season and first at home in exactly 365 days.
Entering the Randy Stebbins Memorial Tournament finals, O-E had enjoyed some rest. Playing their first game of the competition on Thursday due to a scheduling conflict with Port Allegany, the Lady Terrors came in with fresh legs and it showed in their initial hustle. In the opening minutes, they pushed the pace, crashed the glass and intercepted passes for a quick 6-2 advantage.
A-L, on the other hand, came into the championship on the second night of a back-to-back and while they might have been battling fatigue, had a vivid memory of their scratch-and-claw win against Bradford that got them there as well as notes from past run-ins with the Lady Terrors.
“I was able to see (O-E’s) game the other day so I knew they would be a tough team. We play them in summer league and we play them here every year,” said Allegany-Limestone head coach Andrea Darrows. “We just said that we had to be controlled, we had to be calm and take care of the ball throughout.”
Similarly to their game against the Lady Owls, A-L at first struggled with ball control, suffering several giveaways in the opening minutes. However, as they settled into the flow of the game, they began to turn the tables. Clogging passing and driving lanes and pestering ball handlers, the Gators turned the pressure onto the Lady Terrors, who in turn, were plagued with their own turnover turmoil.
Forcing four consecutive turnovers, A-L quickly closed the gap on the scoreboard, tying the game at eight. However, O-E answered back late in the period, with Irelyn Rounsville ending the drought with a 3-pointer followed by a few made shots at the charity stripe to give them a 16-11 lead entering the second quarter.
Turnovers continued to be a persistent issue for both squads as the first half rolled on. Finding themselves in a slump, points were hard to find in the early minutes of the second. While O-E probed inside for looks at the rim, especially with their forward Rayel Hakes, A-L chose to eye up jumpers in the mid-range and beyond. While none fell at first, in the closing minutes of the quarter the Gators found production in bursts.
Down by 10, Emerson Ortego cashed in the Gators’ first 3-pointer of the afternoon before hitting a short corner jumper and another triple from Maddie Kahm. As the Lady Terrors struggled to rotate into position to close out on shooters, the Gators began chipping away at the lead, entering halftime on a 6-1 run that brought them back to within striking distance.
“I think really, it came down to keeping our composure. We talked about looking for a great shot and not settling for that kind of okay shot,” said Darrows. “(In Pennsylvania) we have the advantage of no shot clock so we talked about that the whole game. We didn’t have to rush something that’s a poor shot. We wanted to take our time and look for that better shot.”
Taking to the court after the intermission, things seemed optimistic for the Lady Terrors. Coming up with a defensive stop, they then crashed the glass for back-to-back offensive boards which produced a made shot and a trip to the foul line. Missing the free throw, however, might have been an omen, as things turned quickly from then on.
Led by Kaiana Wojewoda-Ko, A-L’s defense became incessant. Wojewoda-Ko personally produced back-to-back steals, scoring once before Mya Hayes came away with a block, a rebound and a successful three-point play. Following in suit, Kahm then forced her way to the free throw line, converting another and-one opportunity to take the Gators’ first lead of the game at 33-32.
Continuing to hold O-E scoreless, the Gators’ eight unanswered points snowballed with more steals, more made 3-pointers and more trips to the charity stripe, ultimately culminating in a 17-2 run that put them ahead by eight with just under three minutes remaining.
Altogether, the Lady Terrors gave up seven turnovers in the third, being outscored 22-5 and looking up at a 47-35 deficit heading into the fourth.
“We scored a bunch in the first half but it was kind of tenuous. We weren’t playing well and the effort was there in the first quarter and then it just seemed to tail off,” said Otto-Eldred head coach Shawn Gray. “Our effort just wasn’t there, which is probably a lot of my fault. Maybe I just didn’t have them ready to go tonight but the lack of effort is the thing that’s most disappointing.”
Although there was plenty of time to respond, the Lady Terrors’ offense was too cold to reheat. Looking to catch up with long range jumpers, the shots just wouldn’t fall with any sort of consistency. Even when O-E managed to tack on points, which mostly came from scattered looks in close or streaky work from the charity stripe, A-L was right there to respond, maintaining a lead, if not padding it.
Throughout the final period, all the Lady Terrors could do was turn a 12-point deficit into an 11-point deficit, eventually retiring their starters and putting in their reserves to finish out the already-lost game.
“I told (the team after the game) we have to forget about it. Learn from it, this should for sure stick with us for a while, but we have to move on. Ultimately, we didn’t achieve one of our goals this year but, in the grand scheme of things, we didn’t lose a league game, it doesn’t have anything to do with Pennsylvania seeding or anything,” said Gray. “Hopefully we didn’t just lose a game today, we learned from it and hopefully it doesn’t carry on.”
Ortego led the Gators with 12 points, also coming away with four rebounds while Kahm finished with 11 points, one rebound and one assist. Wojewoda-Ko, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, ended with 11 points as well, also registering four steals.
For the Lady Terrors, Baylee Francis scored a game-high 14 points while Rayel Hakes tallied 13.
Leaving the tournament weekend with back-to-back comeback victories, the Gators already feel seasoned and ready for the rest of the season, which starts sooner rather than later. Having just two day’s rest, A-L heads back out on the road for a matchup with Portville before their home opener on Friday against Olean.
“First of all, (our team) definitely makes me proud because no matter what the team fought both games for the entire games. We were down in both games and just kept fighting to come back,” said Darrows. “We definitely have the heart and the drive to succeed.”
AT DUKE CENTER
Allegany-Limestone (56)
Ortego 5 1-2 12, Kahm 3 3-6 11, Wojewoda-Ko 5 1-2 11, Hayes 3 5-7 11, Frederick 3 2-3 8, Giardini 1 0-0 3. Totals: 20 12-20 56
Otto-Eldred (45)
Francis 3 8-13 14, Hakes 3 6-12 13, Smith 2 0-1 5, Prince 1 0-0 3, Rounsville 1 0-0 3. Totals: 13 14-28 45
Allegany-Limestone 11 25 47 56
Otto-Eldred 16 30 35 45
Three-point goals: A-L (4) Kahm 2, Ortego, Giardini, O-E (5) Prince, Hakes, Van Scoter, Smith, Rounsville; Total fouls: A-L 19, O-E 17; Fouled out: None.
