Finding a way to win
Falls gets it done in win over LaBrae
LEAVITTSBURG — There are nights a team just doesn’t have it. On those nights, fighting through the fog is difficult, but a good team finds a way.
The Newton Falls girls basketball team got lost in LaBrae’s fog for a while on Wednesday night, but found its way out for a 41-36 victory in All-American Conference, Blue Tier play at LaBrae.
“We had a game like this against Southeast,” Newton Falls coach Mark Baker said. “With a game like this, you learn more. You go back and look at the things you did. You just learn more. You really find out what you’re made of.
“It’s the mental things, not so much the physical. It’s a rare player who can go through the lowest of the lows and still bounce back. That’s a dangerous player. That player is pretty tough to beat.”
The Tigers (2-1, 1-0) fell behind a scrappy LaBrae squad, 36-35, with 3:25 to play following Hannah Hill’s baseline jumper, but they answered a minute later with a bucket from Izzy Kline. From there Kayla Barreca added a tally and Kline added two free throws in the bonus to secure the win.
“They went ahead right there and I think we got a timeout,” Baker said. “I said we needed to settle down at the defensive end. We were a little too antsy, a little too aggressive. We were trying to force the issue. On offense, we needed to slow down.
“On that possession, I think we made seven, eight or nine passes and got a good look. Five girls touched the ball more than once. It was an excellent offensive set. Then we regrouped on defense and played within ourselves. We got a couple of deflections and some steals and when that happens, time runs out quick.”
The Vikings (2-2, 0-1) were outsized, but fought tooth and nail all through the contest. They trailed by as many as 10, 22-12, following a runner in the lane from Ashley Sembach with 2:18 to play in the first half. Marissa Roberts scored consecutive baskets and Olivia Williams added a putback to get LaBrae to within four, 22-18, with 40 seconds to play in the half. Hannah Harnichar’s basket for the Tigers made it 24-18 at the half.
Roberts scored the first four points of the second half and the signal was sent that the Vikings were not going away as they closed the gap to 25-22. They took their first lead at 31-30 with 1:13 left in the third following a traditional three-point play from Haylie Kiser and two more buckets from Roberts.
“That was a tremendous effort,” LaBrae coach Larry Sanderson said. “There have been times over the last couple years it starts to get away from us and it gets away from us. We didn’t let it get away from us tonight. They showed a lot of heart. Some of our shots just didn’t drop. Basketball is a game of mistakes and the team that makes the least, wins.
“We made them make mistakes and kept ourselves in the ballgame by playing hard.”
Anga Fowler’s triple gave Newton Falls a 33-31 lead to end the third period.
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