By HUNTER O. LYLE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
DUKE CENTER, PA – Using tireless defense and fluid ball movement, the Otto-Eldred girls’ basketball dominated Smethport, 65-18, for their sixth consecutive win and fourth consecutive North Tier League victory.
Although both respective offenses were slow out of the gates, the Lady Terrors would find their groove first. After the first four and a half minutes of play, O-E had managed to put just five points on the board – a 3-pointer from Lexi Prince and a layup from Carrie Drummond – however, a shift in focus to their defensive efforts gave way to a quick 7-0 scoring run. Between a near-flawless execution of the full-court-press and pesky hands in the passing lanes, the Lady Terrors ripped away steal after steal before converting them to points in transition.
Their streak would continue up to the final buzzer of the first quarter, as Ayla Van Scoter would cash in on a 3-pointer just in time to put O-E up by 15.
“If we want to get where we want to go, it’s got to start on the defensive end. That’s kind of what I preach to the girls,” said Otto-Eldred head coach Shawn Gray. “I thought we were a bit lackadaisical at spots. Our full-court-pressure, we hadn’t really worked on it at all probably in the past two or three weeks, but I thought it would be a good time to throw it at them and see what they could do.”
Smethport would end their five-minute scoring drought early in the second quarter as they tacked on successive baskets in the opening minute. However, playing at the Lady Terrors’ fast paced rapidly drained their tanks and along with tired legs came more turnovers. O-E would continue to take advantage of the extra possessions, streaking up the court for easy looks at the rim. A split trip to the line from Rayel Hakes would put the Lady Terrors up by 20 with just under four minutes remaining.
However, late in the half, the Lady Hubbers would once again find some production from their offense, tacking on six unanswered points from a made 3-pointer and an and-one opportunity. However, they still found themselves down 31-12 going into the intermission.
Already down by a massive margin, frustration and deflation began to emanate from the Lady Hubbers. As the Lady Terrors continued to pluck away steals on virtually every possession, Smethport started to spiral. While only managing to tack on four points in the third quarter, Smethport watched as O-E poured on 21, widening the margin to 36 going into the final quarter.
In the final eight minutes of play, both teams simply went through the motions. The Lady Terrors kept their foot on the pedal, racking up points while the Lady Hubbers could only watch. Smethport’s only points of the period would come in the closing seconds, when Jasmine Miller drove to the basket for a made layup and foul with 3.2 seconds remaining.
Five Lady Terrors ended in double-digit scoring during the win. Van Scoter led the charge with 15 points while Baylee Francis finished closely behind with 14. Addie Bell, Hakes and Drummond all ended with 10 points.
Tallying their fourth NTL win of the season, O-E jumps Cameron County in the league standings for second place. For a team two years removed from a District 9 title and the end of their dynasty, the win comes as a sign of ascension once again.
“I think we’re in the mix for sure. Are we at the top of the D9 competitors? I don’t think so, at least not yet, but I think we’ve got all the ingredients,” said Gray. “We’ve got some kids that can really go. We’ve got a lot of competitive spirit. I told this group at the beginning of the season, we have the ingredients but you can always put too much sugar in something. You can put too much salt in a recipe.
It’s got to be just right. We’ve gotta get that chemistry just right, just like Grandma does with her chocolate chip cookies,” said Gray, “and I think they’re kind of buying into that. We have good leadership in a couple of seniors and one junior. Everybody else is underclassmen so we just need the right people to lead us and everybody’s going to follow after. I think it’s going to be real, real fun come February and March.”
AT DUKE CENTER
Smethport (18)
McKean 4 0-0 8, Neff 2 0-0 5, Oors 2 1-1 3, Miller 1 0-1 2. Totals: 8 1-2 18
Otto-Eldred (65)
Van Scoter 6 0-0 15, Francis 6 2-2 14, Drummond 4 2-5 10, Bell 3 2-2 10, Hakes 3 4-6 10, Smith 2 0-2 4, Prince 1 0-0 2. Totals: 25 10-17 65
Smethport 2 12 16 18
Otto-Eldred 17 31 52 65
Three-point goals: SMT (1) Neff, O-E (5) Van Scoter 3, Bell 2; Total fouls: SMT 11, O-E 4; fouled out: D. Neff (SM).
JV: Otto-Eldred 19, Smethport 10
