By HUNTER O. LYLE
DUKE CENTER, PA – Although they held just a one-point lead, the clouds were seeming to part for the Otto-Eldred boy’s basketball team.
With just two minutes left on the clock, they had breathed fresh life into the Terror Dome with a clutch 3-pointer, before proceeding to draw a fifth and disqualifying foul on Cameron County’s dominant man-in-the-middle. Sinking both free throws, they pulled ahead for the first time since the start of the quarter.
However, their wave of momentum which rose fast and crashed faster. In the final fleeting minutes, turnovers, missed layups and panic piled up, as the Terrors were forced to accept not only a 40-34 loss to the Red Raiders, but also a missed chance at a North Tier League title.
“It’s a big game. I mean, you’re playing for your life in the NTL standings. We still had a shot at getting first or sharing it with Port Allegany for the regular season, so I think the pressure got to us a little bit,” said Otto-Eldred head coach Rob Wight. “We’ve had one close, down-to-the-wire game before, but that wasn’t with this magnitude, with the big rival in a packed house. But we’re young, we’ll bounce back.”
The two rivals initially met just five days prior, when Cam Co finally tallied a win over the Blue and Gold for the first time in half a decade. While both teams saw other opponents in the interim, the second showdown loomed on the horizon.
The rematch mirrored the first encounter. Similar to Saturday’s contest, the Red Raiders were led out of the gates by their 6’7 star, Isaac Grovanz, who made his presence known on both sides of the court. Lurking down low on defense, he relegated the Terrors to the perimeter while crashing, rolling and maneuvering his way to the rim on offense, helping the Red Raiders jump out to an early 8-2 lead.
However, as he swallowed up space, as well as several rebounds, Grovanz’s physicality cost him two quick fouls and with just two minutes left in the quarter, he was sent to the bench. Sensing an opening, the Terrors quickly attacked. Closing out the first quarter with a post score from Jack Sherry and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Mason Rees, O-E sparked a 10-2 run in the next six minutes, building a 15-12 advantage halfway through the second.
“A big note from Saturday’s matchup was just attacking more in general, getting the ball out and getting it ahead,” said Wight, “but when (Grovanz) was out we definitely wanted to try to get the ball down low into Jack’s hands or Wyatt (Blendinger’s) hands. We wanted to see if we could execute inside or collapse the defense inside to get some open threes.”
Meanwhile, Cam Co was left searching for answers. While they implemented their alternative six-footer, Grady Gribble, the Red Raiders’ continued to sputter, going scoreless for over five minutes while their defense struggled to regain authority. Eventually, Nick Goss ended the drought with a triple late in the half, kicking the offense back into gear to whittle the deficit to just two heading into the break.
“(Grovanz) obviously draws so much attention, and my other big guy is big but he doesn’t draw the same eyes. (Gribble) is a little quicker so we can do some different things with him, offensively,” said Cameron County head coach Marcus Brown. “We just kind of go with more of a guard-first outlook when Grovanz is out of the game, get to the hoop with our guards, whereas, when he’s in, the emphasis is to get the ball down low.”
While both teams managed to muster momentum when they returned to the hardwood, neither could sustain it. The Red Raiders opened the action with a trip to the charity stripe from Grovanz, fresh from his hiatus, before Malakai Zucal put them back in front with a successful and-one opportunity.
Then, late in the period, the current shifted. Hitting his third 3-pointer of the night, Rees knotted the game at 22 as he sparked a 7-2 Terrors’ run that saw them take a slim two-point lead entering the final quarter.
With their hopes of an NTL title resting on the next eight minutes of play, O-E’s embers died out. While the Red Raiders controlled the clock with a slow and meticulous pace, patiently looking for openings and seizing them when they came, the Terrors couldn’t find their rhythm. Shots constantly missed their marks, rebounds evaded them and mistimed passes went awry as they fell into a four-and-a-half minute spiral.
However, as they looked up at a four-point deficit, Rees once again came up clutch. Knocking down yet another shot from beyond the arc, he gave the Terrors a spark. Forcing a Red Raider turnover, Wyatt Blendinger then attacked the middle, drawing Grovanz into the air and into contact for his fifth and final foul before putting O-E up by just a single point with two shots at the free throw line. For the moment, the Terrors seemed to be surging.
But that feeling quickly was erased.
On the next trip down the floor, Cam Co ripped the momentum away with a 3-pointer from Zucal. Racing up the court to retaliate, O-E’s desperation turned to desolation, as an errant pass surrendered the ball to the Red Raiders, who then padded their lead with a drive to the basket from Gribble with less than a minute to go.
“We rebounded amazingly in the fourth quarter and we controlled the tempo,” said Brown. “The third quarter was horrible, for our offense in my opinion. We did everything that I don’t want to do and that’s run down and take a quick shot. The fourth quarter was different. We were patient, we got good looks, we converted and we converted at the free throw line.”
Despite coming away with point-blank looks at the rim on their next two possessions, O-E missed both, rendering themselves unable to do anything but accept the inevitable: Cam Co had not only completed the season sweep, but also taken control of the rivalry.
Rees finished with a team-high 12 points for the Terrors while Sherry posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebound.
With the loss, O-E concedes the NTL title to Port Allegany, a team that has tallied victories over both the Terrors and Red Raiders. However, as one door closes, another opens and with just one game left on the regular season schedule – a Tuesday meeting with Coudersport – the Terrors now focus on the impending District 9 Class A postseason.
“We just have to keep going. We go to Coudersport and that’s a big game, it’s going to affect the District standings quite a bit and we’re still trying to get a top spot to get a home game in the first round,” said Wight. “It’s just one game at a time. We’re going to keep chugging along and locking back in, game by game.”
AT DUKE CENTER
Cameron County (40)
Grovanz 5 2-2 12, Bure 4 2-2 10, Zucal 3 1-1 8, Tucker 0 5-6 5, Goss 1 0-0 3, Gibble 1 0-0 2. Totals: 14 10-11 40
Otto-Eldred (34)
Rees 4 0-0 12, Sherry 5 0-0 10, Blendinger 1 3-4 5, Sheeler 1 0-0 3, Splain 1 0-0 2, Schenfield 1 0-0 2. Totals: 13 3-4 34
Cameron County 10 17 24 40
Otto-Eldred 10 19 26 34
Three-point goals: CC (2) Zucal, Goss, O-E (5) Rees 4, Sheeler; Total fouls: CC 10, O-E 15; Fouled out: Grovanz (CC).
JV: Cameron County 33, Otto-Elred 32
