By HUNTER O. LYLE
DUKE CENTER, PA – Continuing to wrestle their regular season schedule into submission, the Otto-Eldred girl’s basketball team tagged an ninth consecutive win onto their record, beating Oswayo Valley 49-20 as they pad their lead atop the North Tier League.
While red hot now, the Lady Terrors found themselves settling into a rut just over a month ago. After coming out of the gates with four victories in their first five contests, O-E was upset at home by Northern Potter in mid-December, losing to the Lady Panthers for the first time in seven years. One game later, they suffered their first back-to-back loss in two years as they fell to DuBois Central Catholic. However, after shaking off their shortcomings, the Lady Terrors regained their footing by rattling off eight wins in a row.
“We’re just coming together as a team. It’s really that simple,” said Otto-Eldred head coach Shawn Gray. “The girls are pulling for each other, wanting to be there for each other, putting the team above themselves. They know that’s what it’s going to take in any sport that they play. They have to be one. They can’t be a bunch of individuals out here and that’s kind of what turned it around.”
Against OV, a team they saw at the very beginning of the season, defense paved the way. Facing a team that lacked sufficient ball handling, O-E pounced, with three Lady Terrors coming away with steals on the Lady Green Waves’ first three possessions. Using a single full-court-defender in the open floor and high-pressure defense in the half court, O-E continued to strip, trap and pester OV into continuous give-aways. With three minutes left in the first quarter, the Lady Green Wave had one field goal attempt and seven turnovers.
However, while the Lady Terrors’ defense was nearly flawless, their offense didn’t follow suit. Although finding themselves racing down the court in transition on numerous occasions, O-E stumbled at the finish line as they left several fast break opportunities go unfulfilled. Inefficiency on the break, coupled with several turnovers of their own due to a handful of sloppy passes, left O-E able to only amass a 9-2 lead going into the second quarter.
“We are a slow starting team. For whatever reason, it seems like the first quarter of a lot of games, it seems like we don’t get off the school bus or something. We’re playing at home tonight and we just couldn’t make anything around the rim, shot a few air balls,” said Gray. “They’re 15-, 16-, 17-year-old kids so sometimes they’re not all mentally there to begin with and sometimes they’re a little bit too hyped up and that could have been what it was tonight too”
Whatever their offense was missing in the first, the Lady Terrors found in the second. Starting with a 3-pointer from Jahden Smith on the opening possession, O-E began pulling away by implementing a rapid pace that saw constant ball movement slice up the opposing defense. Ayla Van Scoter connected on another triple soon after before anchoring the Lady Terrors’ still-oppressive defense with two steals and four points over the next three OV possessions. Executing on both sides of the ball, as well as converting steals into points in transition, O-E swiftly padded their lead, outscoring the Lady Green Wave 22-4 and entering halftime with a 25-point lead.
Coming out of the locker room, OV still had no answer for the well-oiled offense that stood before them. The Lady Terrors’ constant motion continuously created open lanes through the middle or wide open spaces for their shooters to take advantage of. While the Lady Green Wave struggled to find a way to score, O-E kept their foot on the gas, with a 3-pointer from Baylee Francis putting them up by 30 with three minutes left in the third.
As they began to substitute in their reserves, the Lady Terrors cruised to the finish line, tallying their twelfth win overall and their tenth NTL win of the season.
Eight Lady Terrors made their way into the scoring column throughout the win, with Van Scoter and Smith leading the way with nine each. Van Scoter also came away with three rebounds, three assists and three steals while Rayel Hakes had eight points, four rebounds and three steals as well. Kayla Edminster had seven points while Francis and Lexi Prince each scored six points. Francis also led the team in takeaways with six.
With six games left in the regular season, the Lady Terrors are well aware that they are quickly securing a spot in the District 9 Class A postseason, however, their main objective revolves around the league. While they currently hold the top spot in the NTL, two of their next three games look to threaten their grip.
After traveling to PennWest Clarion on Saturday to face Clarion-Limestone in the D9 Showcase, O-E stays on the road for matchups against Port Allegany, a team in the midst of a mid-season resurgence which holds the same NTL record as O-E at 10-1, and NoPo, the only team in the league to leave a blemish on the Lady Terrors’ record.
“We want to win the league. We want to get back to being NTL champions. That’s first and foremost,” said Gray. “On Saturday, we have Clarion-Limestone but the most important games are Monday and Tuesday when we go on the road for Port and NoPo, two teams that can definitely beat us. That’s what we’re focusing on. We’ll see what we have as a team in the next few days for sure.”
AT DUKE CENTER
Oswayo Valley (20)
E. Resig 7 0-0 14, George 1 0-0 2, A. Resig 1 0-0 2, Fetzer 0 2-2 2. Totals: 9 2-2 20
Otto-Eldred (49)
Smith 4 0-0 9, Van Scoter 3 2-4 9, Hakes 4 0-0 8, Edminster 3 1-2 7, Prince 2 0-0 6, Francis 1 3-6 6, Bickford 1 0-0 2, Rounsville 1 0-0 2. Totals: 19 6-12 49
Oswayo Valley 2 6 10 20
Otto-Eldred 9 31 42 49
Three-point goals: OV (0), O-E (5) Prince 2, Van Scoter, Francis, Smith; Total fouls: OV 10, O-E 4; Fouled out: None.
JV: Oswayo Valley 42, Otto-Eldred 15
