By TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — Trailing by 11 heading into the final minute of the third quarter, the Waverly girls basketball team rallied to take a late lead over Owego before dropping the STAC Central Division clash, 37-36, in the final seconds here Tuesday evening.
“We fought back, we played hard,” Waverly coach Bob Kelly said. “We started to make some shots. We didn't shoot the ball very well in the first half, maybe about 10 percent anyway. The effort was there and when the ball started to go in we got some energy. Just rough luck down the stretch, rough luck.”
With the Wolverines down, 29-18, Ryleigh Judson scored the final basket of the third period with 58 seconds on the clock.
That sparked a fourth-quarter surge that saw Brilynn Belles nail back-to-back 3-pointers, followed by a conventional 3-point play from Kait Sutton to tie the game at 29 with 5:42 to go.
The River Hawks’ Marielle Searles exchanged baskets with Kaylin Twedt. Owego’s Jenna McEvoy pushed the lead to 35-33 on a pair of free throws with 2:06 on the clock.
Belles nailed her third trey of the game — and the quarter — at 1:14 to give Waverly its first lead of the evening, 36-35.
“They're a dangerous offensive team when shots are going in,” Owego coach Luke McEvoy said. “I think, first half we did a great job of limiting the shot opportunities that they had.
“They had a few more looks in the third, which I think started to kind of get them going. And then once they start seeing them going in, good teams like that are going to keep making them.
“A few missed keys on our defensive rotations.”
With time running out, McEvoy and Ashlyn Dalton fouled Wolverine players in the final seconds then, when it looked like the River Hawks might send Waverly to the line with a fifth tem foul, Dalton managed to steal the ball in the Owego end instead and find McEvoy open for the game-winning basket with 5 ½ seconds on the clock.
What Dalton lacks in size, she makes up for with her “in your face” defensive style.
“She's the ultimate pest,” coach McEvoy said. “Yeah, I would not want to have to go against her. When you unleash her on somebody, we see it daily in practice, which I think makes her teammates better. She made an excellent play there and then not only to get the steal, but to get the ball, and then find Jenna open under the basket.”
“That last turnover, that's just kind of how things have been going where it's just bad luck for us,” Kelly said. “Can't take it away from the kids, they played hard. They ended up making one more play than we did.”
“I think just an excellent job in the end,”coach McEvoy said. “We made enough plays, one extra play to get it done.”
Neither team was very successful at lighting up the scoreboard early in the contest, partially due to cold shooting, but also a credit to solid defense.
A basket from Keely Wicklund put the River Hawks on the board about 2 ½ minutes into the first quarter, then Searles wrapped a pair of buckets around a Twedt free throw for a 6-1 advantage.
Ryleigh Judson and Twedt scored less than 30 seconds apart, narrowing the gap to 6-5, then McEvoy hit a 3-pointer in the final minute to give Owego a 9-5 lead heading into the second period.
Eva Crawford sank two free throws in the first minute of Q2, Jana Nikulich added a freebie, and Searles followed with a field goal to extend the River Hawks’ lead to 14-8.
Sutton stopped the run with a basket at 3:33, Searles scored again and Maci Wheeler closed out the first-half scoring with a free throw, making it 16-9 at the break.
Twedt and Makenzie Olmsted put in back-to-back baskets, but Owego responded with consecutive buckets from Searles and another by McEvoy to build a 22-13 lead.
Belles countered with a basket, then Dalton and Wheeler traded 3-pointers. Katelyn Dodge and Searles responded with baskets, giving the River Hawks a 29-18 cushion heading into the final minute of the quarter.
Searles led all scorers with 18 points. McEvoy added nine, Dalton had three, Crawford, Dodge and Wicklund contributed two points apiece, and Nikulich tacked on a free throw.
Belles led Waverly with 11 points and Twedt chipped in with nine. Sutton recorded six points, Judson and Wheeler added four each, and Olmsted had two.
Waverly (4-6, 8-10 overall) hosts Elmira (8-10) next Tuesday while Owego (4-6, 11-7 overall) heads to Vestal (9-7) Thursday.
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PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
