Unionville survives in overtime

CALN >> Micayla Flores smiled when asked how often Unionville shoots free throws in practice.

She couldn’t describe it any other way. Especially since the Indians work on those shots religiously.

“We’ve been working really hard in practice on them,” Flores said. “We’re glad to be able to make those shots under pressure. Even though it sucks at the time working on them along with conditioning, I was really happy that we stayed winded and it paid off.”

Flores finished with a gamehigh 18 points and was 8-for-8 from the foul line as Unionville converted 9-of-10 free throws in the overtime period of a 45-40 victory over Coatesville in the second game of the Ches-Mont Division Challenge on Saturday.

The Indians (2-0) shot 25-for34 from the free throw line in the game while the Red Raiders (1-1) went 14-for-30. Free throws did

turn out to be the difference in this one.

“We focus every day on making foul shooting the difference in the game,” said Unionville head coach Fred Ellzy. “Any time you look to make a difference in a game like this, especially against a team like Coatesville, is huge. They did a very good job with it.”

Coatesville head coach Rick Nelms felt his team’s missed opportunities at the line cost the Red Raiders a chance to go through the Ches-Mont Division Challenge unscathed. The Red Raiders were 1-for-5 on foul shots in overtime, but Nelms pointed to missed attempts in the first half that led his team to a 22-14 halftime deficit.

“We were 9-for-17 (from the foul line) in the first half and we trailed by eight points,” Nelms said. “We talked about converting free throws in the preseason. You have to put the ball in the net. It’s pretty simple.”

Unionville took advantage of Coatesville getting into early foul trouble, especially once Nafisa Saunders left the game with her third foul midway through the first quarter.

Advantage Flores, who had 12 points in the first half. Most of them came during Saunders’s absence.

“That’s what we wanted,” Flores said. “We needed to get the ball inside because that’s how we were going to win the game. We’ve been working on post moves a lot, especially with the size advantage.”

Once Saunders reentered the game for Coatesville to open the second half, she took over. Saunders had seven of her nine points during an 11-0 run as the Red Raiders led 28-24 after three quarters.

Unionville refused to go away, not when the Indians kept getting to the line in a game that featured a total of 38 fouls.

The Indians shot 6-for-6 from the line in the fourth quarter, the final two coming off the arms of Flores to take a 34-31 lead with just over three minutes to play.

Coatesville rallied with a jumper by Brianna White to make it 34-33. With 1:06 left, Saunders drove to the basket, was fouled and had a chance to win it for the Red Raiders.

She only hit 1-of-2 from the line to tie the game at 34-34 and send it into overtime.

That’s when Unionville was able to withstand the pressure of shooting free throws while the Coatesville fans kept the noise up hoping for a miss. Everything came down to what Ellzy kept preaching during those intense practices.

“Having the pressure in practice really helped bring it into the game situation today,” said Lexi Shanahan, who finished with 10 points. “The noise didn’t bother us.”

Zada Bookman was fouled after converting a lay-up to put Coatesville within one, 40-39 with 1:44 left. She hit the free throw to make it 40-40.

On Unionville’s next possession, Maddie Shanahan drove the lane and was fouled on a shot with 1:27 remaining. She gave the Indians the lead for good by hitting both her free throws to make it 42-40.

After Ellie Covert hit 1-of-2 free throws to make it 43-40, Zhariah Torres missed a three pointer that would have tied the game for Coatesville with 31 seconds left. Unionville snatched the rebound and got the ball to Flores, who sank both her free throws with 7.6 to go to seal the victory.

The Indians were the lone unbeaten team in the Ches-Mont Division Challenge and believe this weekend’s pair of victories against National Division opponents were a stepping stone in the quest for a playoff spot in the Ches-Mont American Division.

“I think we made a statement this weekend,” Shanahan said. “Everyone thought we were kind of the underdogs, but we really proved ourselves this weekend. I’m really excited for our season.”