Centerville tops Sidney to reach D-I district finals
Centerville’s season was slipping away, and the Elks needed a break to calm down.
They just needed to breathe.
Sidney’s full-court pressure in the fourth quarter had taken their breath away and breathed life into the Yellow Jackets. A 20-11 fourth-quarter advantage for Sidney forced overtime. And the Jackets were on a high because Jordan Scully’s long 3-pointer with seven seconds left tied the score.
After the Elks couldn’t score in the final seven seconds, they went to the bench to prepare for the four-minute overtime.
“When they came over we said that we’ve done this before,” Elks coach Adam Priefer said. “It’s no big deal. We can play in overtime. The girls relaxed. And even after they scored and took the lead, I don’t think we panicked, which was impressive for our team.”
After two ties in overtime, the Elks scored five straight points and emerged with a 51-49 victory Thursday night. The sixth-seeded Elks (17-7) advanced to a Division I district final for the third straight year. They will play the winner of Monday’s game between No. 1 and unbeaten West Clermont and Kings at Princeton High School on Feb. 25.
The Elks tied the score at 46 on two Emily Grim free throws. Then Kendal George made the steal of the game for the Elks with 1:37 left. What followed was an open 12-footer for Kaitlyn Palomino, two more free throws for Grim and one for George to put the lead at four with 14 seconds left.
“We just came to the realization that this should not be a close game,” George said of the break before overtime. “We need to just stomp on their throats almost. We were giving them too many chances. We came out strong, and I’m just really proud of us.”
Anna Grim led the Elks with 13 points, George scored 10 and Emily Grim scored eight, including four overtime free throws.
Sidney (19-5) came in as the fourth seed and the unbeaten champion of the Miami Valley League’s Valley Division.
“Not many people gave us a shot,” Priefer said. “We thought we had a shot. The kids played hard and did a great job.”
Sidney coach Jamal Foster said his team struggled with spacing on offense in the first half and for some of the second half.
“We really couldn’t get into the dribble drive in the paint the way we wanted to,” he said. “We left a lot of points on the board. It wasn’t so much the things that we felt like they did. It was most of the things that we didn’t do ourselves.”
That changed in the fourth quarter when the press forced turnovers, increased tempo and created some easy baskets. The Jackets were finally playing the way they are accustomed to.
Six players scored in the fourth quarter. Scully finished with 13, Allie Stockton, the team’s best player, scored four to finish with 11, Larkyn Vordemark scored six of her 10 in the fourth and Regan Clark had two important baskets inside to finish with six.
“It’s how you play when you’re down,” Foster said. “This team never has quit all season. To see what they did in that comeback in the fourth quarter, it’s just a testament to who they’ve been all season.”