By HUNTER O. LYLE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
ST. MARYS, PA – With just 12.7 seconds left on the clock, the Otto-Eldred’s girls’ basketball teams’ championship dreams hung on just a two-point lead.
They had escaped the third quarter with just a five point advantage and after a slow fourth full of turnovers and missed chances, Clarion-Limestone was poised to overtake the Lady Terrors. O-E had had their chances to drive the final nail in the Lady Lions coffin with a block from Rayel Hakes and a steal from Jahden Smith, but C-L was persistent. Now the Lady Terrors had just one more chance to punch their ticket to the District 9 Class A finals.
The Lady Lions advanced the ball quickly, using their momentum to force a deep drive into the paint. Their first attempt missed, but, as they had been doing all game, C-L crashed the glass for an offensive rebound. Still, they couldn’t take the lid off the rim. Having just seconds remaining, Carrie Drummond out-muscled a would-be rebounder and grabbed a hold of the board herself.
With a single second left on the clock, all C-L could do was intentionally foul and after two made free throws from their veteran leader, the Lady Terrors cemented their 39-35 victory, earning a shot at their second title in three years.
“This group is so special. I mean, Addie Bell said in (the post-game locker room) that when (all the girls from the 2022 championship) graduated, they didn’t think that there was any chance that they were ever going to play in Clarion again, and that just it hit me and it still is,” said Otto-Eldred head coach Shawn Gray. “As a coach, I’ve been telling them all year that I don’t think they realize how good they can really be and maybe this is what it took to break through that. I hope so because they’re so fun to coach.”
While O-E has had plenty of experience in the postseason, C-L came in as the newbies, having not made a deep playoff push in several years. This year, the Lady Lions earned the six seed, knocking off the defending champions and third seeded Elk County Catholic in the quarterfinals. After being knocked out in that same round a year ago, the Lady Terrors cruised past No. 7 Northern Potter to make it to the semifinals. Now fate had pinned the battle-tested against the up-and-comers.
In the first quarter, the Lady Terrors lacked intensity. After scoring on their first two possessions – a layup and two made free throws from Ayla Van Scoter – their offense became unwound. Their problems began under the boards, where the Lady Lions consistently came away with second chance opportunities with an unmatched effort on the glass. Although C-L failed to convert those opportunities, the Lady Terrors struggled to break the 6-6 tie. Noticeably out of sync, O-E would go scoreless for several minutes.
During that stretch, C-L began to pull away. Pushing the pace in the open court and spreading the defense with crisp ball movement in the half-court, the Lady Lions outscored O-E 9-2 as they built a 15-8 advantage. However, late in the period, a three-point-play from Drummond and layup from Baylee Francis would cut the deficit back down to one heading into the next quarter.
In the second, both teams’ respective offenses found their firing pins. Opening the quarter by trading 3-pointers, the lead swapped hands several times as both teams scored back-and-forth. Another triple from Van Scoter would give the Lady Terrors a 21-19 lead with five and a half minutes to go, but from then on, both teams went cold.
Plagued by turnovers and missed chances, neither would score for over three minutes.. As in the first quarter, however, O-E would find a boost late, tacking on four unanswered points to end the half up by six.
“We were moving the ball on offense. We weren’t rebounding very well but we weren’t turning the ball over, like giving them run-outs or anything,” said Gray of his team’s work in the first half. “(C-L) really like to get out and run and I think we did a really good job of containing them for the most part. We did give a few up and gave up way too many rebounds but I thought we were being methodical at times and hit a couple big shots.”
Baylee Francis looks to pass out of a baseline drive during the Lady Terrors’ win over Clarion-Limestone in the Class A semifinals. Francis led O-E in scoring with 12 points in the win. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
Whereas they had settled into stagnation during several stints in the first half, the Lady Terrors came into the third quarter with an emphasis on movement. Utilizing skip passes and give-and-gos, O-E opened lanes to the basket that resulted in easy points in the paint. But the Lady Lions weren’t going anywhere.
Although they couldn’t take back the lead, C-L kept in stride with the Lady Terrors with fast breaks scores and more second-chances shots. As O-E began to lose steam in the final minutes, C-L closed out the third quarter with four unanswered points, cutting the lead back down to five with just one quarter to go.
While the Lady Terrors started the final eight minutes strong – Drummond earned another three-point-play off a tough drive through traffic – C-L would answer on their next trip down the floor with a made 3-pointer. From there, the defenses would emerge. Holding each other scoreless for over three minutes, the tension began to build and the clock drained.
In an attempt to preserve their lead, O-E slowed the game down, patiently passing as they tried to tip the odds in their favor. However, their plan backfired as a turnover would result in a clutch Lady Lions triple. With just a minute and a half remaining, they had cut the deficit to just two points.
“We talked about how we could take a foul and possibly two to kind of make them bring the ball in over and over again, but we wanted to play it straight up,” said Gray. “(Our plan was) we didn’t want (Hannah) Beggs to get the ball, that’s why we had Jahen on her. We wanted to know where (Raegan Love) was, she’s a shooter, and we were going to live with the consequences with everyone else.”
After trying to retaliate with a three of their own, O-E would secure the offensive rebound only to have it stripped away by C-L. A chance to seal the game had been replaced by desperation defense in the final 30 seconds. Luckily for the Lady Terrors, they had enough in the tank to carry them home.
Three stops and two shots at the line later, O-E had come away with a tough-fought victory and a chance at their second-ever championship.
“Toughness. It took a lot of toughness from them and that was the word that was on the board when we went out. Not physical toughness either, it took mental toughness.” said Gray. “There were some moments where we made some silly, goofy mistakes but that’s this team, and I’ve got to live with it, they’ve got to live with it. I’m okay with it. I can’t be more proud of a squad.”
Francis led the way for O-E with 12 points while Hakes scored 10. Van Scoter ended with nine points in the win, followed by Drummond with eight.
The Lady Terrors will now play top-seeded DuBois Central Catholic on ‘Super Saturday’ at 4:15 p.m. Earlier in the season, on Tuesday, Feb. 4, O-E beat the Lady Cardinals 56-45, prompting confidence as they head into the championship showdown this weekend.
“We just want to play loose. Play together. Just try to do the things we’ve been doing all year,” said Gray. “This team has evolved over the season so much. We’ve gone from five individuals to like 11 girls that are a single unit. That’s what you want as a coach. That’s our strategy.”
Carrie Drummond (left) and Jahden Smith embrace moments after punching their ticket to the District 9 finals. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
AT ST MARYS
Clarion-Limestone (35)
Beggs 7 2-2 18, Schwabenbauer 3 0-0 6, Ferguson 2 0-0 5, Hepfl 1 0-0 2, Love 1 0-0 2, Dunn 1 0-2 2. Totals: 15 2-3 35
Otto-Eldred (39)
Francis 5 2-2 12, Hakes 4 0-0 10, Van Scoter 3 2-2 9, Drummond 2 4-4 8. Totals: 14 8-8 39
Clarion-Limestone 14 19 29 35
Otto-Eldred 13 25 34 39
Three-point goals: C-L (3) Schwabenbauer, Ferguson, Beggs, O-E (3) Hakes 2, Van Scoter; Total fouls: C-L 14, O-E 7; fouled out: None.
