Ontario escapes Weiser with 41-36 win
Weiser had opportunities late, but could not convert
By Ray Rodriguez
Argus Observer
Sunday, January 6, 2008 3:46 AM PST
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| Ontario’s Alla Dzhidzhiyeshvili (left) and Weiser’s Amanda Palmer (right) fight for a loose ball while Palmer’s teammates Mary Lancaster (far right) and Tiffany Nelson look on during the first half of their non-league girls basketball game Saturday in Weiser. Ontario won the game, 41-36. |
Weiser head coach Tim Erhard had his best shooter Amanda Palmer with the ball in her hands for the game-tying shot with time running out.
Palmer missed a 3-pointer with five seconds left in the game and Ontario’s Stephanie O’Connor and Kim Boyd drained two free throws apiece in a hard-fought 41-36 win over Weiser in Saturday in Weiser.
“Amanda has been the one to shoot that ball all year long. It just came up a little short,” Erhard said. “I thought our kids played real hard and had a chance to tie the ball game late. They showed the heart that it will take to be a championship team.”
Weiser overcame what was once a nine point second half deficit and were down 36-29 with 5:16 left in the game.
After Alla Dzhidzhiyeshvili scored the field goal that gave the Tigers a 36-29 lead, the Wolverines went on a 7-0 run over the next 2:58 to tie the score at 36 with 2:18 left.
Anna Overgaard drained a jumper, Annie Hafer grabbed a steal and a layup and Overgaard added another field goal to draw Weiser closer at 36-35.
At the 1:56 mark, Weiser’s Mary Lancaster had a chance to give her squad the lead from the charity stripe and the junior canned the first attempt but missed the second and the game was tied at 36.
Ontario had possession and missed its shot attempt and Lancaster then fouled Stephanie O’Connor with 33.3 seconds left. O’Connor made good on 1-of-2 attempts.
Weiser drove the ball upcourt, called a timeout and on the ensuing inbounds play, Lancaster airmailed a pass out of bounds.
After a series of fouls, Ontario’s Kim Boyd connected on a pair of free throws with 20.6 seconds left to give the Tigers a 39-36 lead and O’Connor added two more with 0.7 seconds left.
Throughout the game, both sides struggled, shooting a paltry 20-of-103 from the field and committed a combined 50 turnovers.
“They (Weiser) did a good job,” Ontario head coach Jon Buck said. “They (Weiser) did all the right things to have a shot at getting us and they almost did. Those four free throws were key.”
Buck said the tough scheduling and the close matchups his team has had early on helped his team when it mattered most.
“We have had a lot of close games and they knew what they needed to do,” Buck said. “You like to have some games where things don’t go well and you still learn to do the right things.”
Dzhidzhiyeshvili led Ontario with 14 points, nine rebounds and five steals, while teammates Chris Babij, Jenny Yano and O’Connor chipped in seven points apiece.
In the first half, Ontario connected on 10-of-37 shots and struggled to find any offensive groove, but the Tigers found their stroke late.
“Our shots weren’t falling that was our main problem and our turnovers hurt us too,” Ontario’s Meghan Schram said. “This game taught us that we have to keep our cool. Late in the game, we got everything to calm down and we started working together.”
Weiser made good on 15-of-42 shots and were led in the scoring column by Overgaard, who scored 13 points and grabbed six boards. Hafer and Tiffany Nelson added six points, and Hafer added five steals and four rebounds.
