By HUNTER O. LYLE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
CLARION, PA – Unable to surmount a comeback in time, the Otto-Eldred girls’ basketball team’s season came to an end at the hands of Williamsburg, falling 47-36 in the PIAA second round.
After taking down Geibel Catholic in the first round of the state tournament, the Lady Terrors had their hands full with their next opponent. Williamsburg, the fourth seed from District 6, entered the PIAA bracket looking to return to the Final Four, a perch reached a year prior. In the first round, the Lady Pirates knocked off WPIAL champions Union Area by 16.
“They are kind of a hyped-up version of Geibel Catholic. They have very similar players in the guard and the big spots. They are very fast and big,” said Otto-Eldred head coach Shawn Gray. “The biggest difference is that I think Williamsburg has a better supporting cast around those two.”
Williamsburg came out ready to set the tone, implementing an aggressive defensive task force that consisted of a smothering full-court-press and staunch man-to-man defense in the half court. In the first few minutes, the Lady Terrors struggled to maintain a rhythm, turning the ball over five times. However, O-E stayed in tow by forcing their way to the free throw line, shooting 4-for-5 throughout the first quarter. A 3-pointer from Carrie Drummond would give the Lady Terrors their first lead of the game at 11-10 with one minute remaining, before they countered a Lady Pirate triple with a second chance score from Ayla Van Scoter to end the period.
O-E would continue to struggle with Williamsburg’s pressure as they committed three consecutive turnovers to start the second quarter. In the meantime, the Lady Pirates hammered the offensive boards, routinely breaking through box outs for rebounds and points in the paint. As the Lady Terrors’ offense ran cold, Williamsburg would get hot, finishing the half on a 11-5 run to build a 29-20 lead going into the break.
“We were kind of giving them the game and we were doing some things that we’ve done over the year. Turnovers and offensive rebounds have been what killed us all season and that was just kind of a microcosm of our year,” said Shawn Gray. “We turned it over 14 times in the first half and, to be down nine having done that, I was happy. I just told them at halftime we had to find a flow.”
The Lady Pirates’ hot streak would spill over into the second half. Out of the gates, they would string together six points, all scored inside the paint. After a split trip at the free throw line, O-E would gather some momentum from a Baylee Francis 3-pointer which materialized on the defensive end. Using their classic 1-3-1 defense, the Lady Terrors would force three turnovers, however, they failed to convert in transition. To make matters worse, they continued to struggle to keep Williamsburg off the boards, allowing the Lady Pirates to cash in on second chance points. With one quarter to go, the Lady Terrors looked up at a seven-point lead.
Having just eight minutes to salvage their season, the Lady Terrors began to collapse. Desperation led to sloppy passing, turnovers, missed shots and missed assignments. As Williamsburg continued to add to their side of the scoreboard, O-E couldn’t find an answer on offense, being held scoreless for nearly seven minutes – their first point of the quarter would come from Rayel Hakes’ 1-for-2 shooting at the line.
FILE: Addie Bell takes the ball up court during Otto-Eldred’s win over Geibel Catholic in the opening round of the PIAA state tournament on Saturday, March 8. | File photo by Hunter O. Lyle
As the Lady Pirates lead grew to 13, they began to stall, waiting for the inevitable victory that saw just a few moments away. In turn, O-E resorted to their reserves, allowing their youth to get some postseason experience while simultaneously accepting the outcome. The Lady Terrors would hear one last buzzer, a sound that concluded their season.
“I’m so proud of how hard everybody played. Everybody stepped up,” said Gray. “We didn’t get any offensive flow going and that was our downfall.”
Drummond and Hakes would lead the Lady Terrors, both scoring eight points in the loss while Francis would tally seven alongside Van Scoters’ six.
“A couple of the words that we used all year was family and togetherness. If you would have seen this team in December or early January, you would have thought the wheels might have been ready to fall off,” said Gray. “We looked like a bunch of individuals or a couple of cliques, and to see what they came together and did is outstanding. They were the ones that did it. They decided as a group of young ladies that they had to do it together and that’s exactly what they did.
“We had some goals this year, like to win the NTL, win our home tournament and try to win the district title, and we didn’t get any one of those. We didn’t accomplish any of them but overall, the year was a total, total success,” said Gray. “That’s not always the case when you can say you didn’t meet any of your preseason goals, not a single one, but at the end, there were so many tears that it had ended. But those were also tears of joy that we pulled it off and became a great team at the end of the year.”
AT CLARION
Otto-Eldred (36)
Drummond 2 2-2 8, Hakes 2 3-6 8, Francis 3 1-2 7, Van Scoter 3 0-0 6, Irons 1 0-0 3, Bell 1 0-1 2, Prince 1 0-0 2. Totals: 13 6-11 36
Williamsburg (47)
Gorsuch 7 3-4 17, Ranalli 4 2-2 10, Royer 3 3-3 10, Colbert 2 0-0 5, Alexander 1 1-2 3, Prough 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 9-11 47
Otto-Eldred 13 20 32 36
Williamsburg 13 29 39 47
Three-point goals: O-E (4) Drummond 2, Hakes, Irons, WB (2) Royer, Colbert; Total fouls: O-E 9, WB 10; fouled out: None.
