Behind most of the game, the Kewanee Boiler Girls dug deep and pulled out a 51-45 overtime win against TRAC-East foe, Bureau Valley, Thursday night at H.F. Brockman Gym.
With just 36:seconds left to play in regulation and down 33-38, things seemed a bit bleak for the Boiler Girls. As it turned out, 36 seconds was just enough time to give Kewanee an opportunity to turn the tide.
Junior point guard Mya Dearing was fouled and made good on both of her free throws to bring the Boiler Girls within three at 38-35. A few seconds later, Dearing stole BV’s inbound pass (under Kewanee’s basket), took two dribbles and banked it in for the 38-37 score.
The Boiler Girls then fouled Kate Salisbury with 26 seconds left. Salisbury made the front end of her two tosses giving BV the 39-37 advantage. After the miss and a Storm rebound, Kewanee was again forced to foul.
After two free throw misses, Kewanee snatched the rebound and pushed the ball up court. After quickly setting their offense, the ball was passed to Dearing who took two dribbles, stepped back and made a jump shot to tie the game at 39.
The Boiler Girls wasted no time scoring in overtime. Junior forward Tejhiana Amos found Dearing at the top of the key for two, giving Kewanee the 41-39 lead. BV quickly countered with a bucket by Libby Endress for another tie.
Dearing was eventually fouled with 2:32 left in the extra frame. She calmly sank both shots and Kewanee, again, had the lead at 43-41.
A minute later, freshman forward Damaris Diaz made a turnaround jumper at the free throw line, extending Kewanee’s lead, 45-41.
Thirty seconds later, senior guard Hannah Tiska was fouled and she made good on both of her free throws with 1:03 left to play and the Boiler Girls up, 47-41.
Down the stretch, Dearing and freshman guard Bailey VanWinkle each hit the front end of their free throws. In between, was a basket by BV’s Izabella Berkey and the score was 49-43.
Tiska made two more free throws and Taylor Neuhalfen drove in for BV’s last basket for the final 51-45 score.
In a game that was fairly close throughout, the final outcome was determined at the charity stripe. Kewanee was 8-10 in overtime and 10-17 for the game. The Storm was 4-13 for the game.
In the first half, both teams struggled to find their offense, settling for numerous three-point attempts. BV led 10-4 after the first quarter and 15-13 at the half.
The third quarter was key in helping the Boiler Girls gain a bit of momentum. Diaz made a rebound bucket to tie the game and Dearing made a long jumper to give the Boiler Girls their first lead at 17-15.
The Storm fought back and remained in the lead off of a 3-point bomb by Salisbury at 24-23. Late Stoller followed with a trey of her own to put BV up by four. To close out the quarter, Dearing made a long pass up court to Amos for a layup, but the Storm lead was 27-25.
Kewanee outscored BV 14-12 in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime. Diaz and Bailey VanWinkle each had key rebound baskets. The latter brought the Boilers within two at 35-33 with 1:17 left in regulation.
Neuhalfen made a layup and free throw to give BV the 38-33 lead with 36 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
When the dust settled, Dearing led all scorers with 20 points and Diaz added 14 for Kewanee. Neuhalfen scored 15 for the Storm, Salisbury added 11 and Endress had eight in vain.
In earlier TRAC-East play (Dec. 4), Bureau Valley shook things up by beating a strong Princeton team, 55-45. Princeton is now 9-1 (2-1). Bureau Valley is 6-4 (2-2) and Kewanee is 2-7 (1-1).
Frosh-soph
The Boiler Girls had a slow start against the Storm and were down 17-13 at the half. They rebounded with a strong second half and outscored BV 33-14 in the second half. Kewanee went on to win 46-31.
Audrey Clucas scored 11 of her game-high 16 points in the second half for Kewanee and Annie Campbell scored nine of her 10 points in the second half.
