Free-throw shooting carries Watterson to CCL win
If Watterson girls basketball were an academic course, no student would dare call coach Tom Woodford an easy A. It might even be called an honors course.
Woodford, though, might have given his players a little bit of a grading curve Thursday night when he hollered into the locker room in an excited voice that they had made 20 of 23 free throws.
The Eagles were even better than that in the final 3½ minutes of the fourth quarter in making 9 of 10 attempts in a 49-46 victory at Hartley.
Watterson (15-1, 4-0) took a major step toward winning its 10th Central Catholic League championship in 11 seasons. Hartley (14-4, 3-2) is the top-rated team in the Central District in Division II.
“We’ve looked and free throws are onethird of our points for the season," Woodford said. “We have this game called ‘Perfect Free Throws’ in practice where if you don’t hit the first one you don’t get a second chance. That’s really like missing twice. Everyone holds one another accountable. If you hit the rim, that’s minus one point."
With the score 38-38, Lauren Sawyer hit a layup and Paige Woodford and Gabby Garrett each made two free throws to give the Eagles a sixpoint lead with 2:14 remaining.
Garrett and Priscilla Severance each made two free throws for a 48-41 lead with 13.3 seconds left.
The Eagles trailed 19-9 and 27-18 in the first half.
“I talked to Paige and I said, ‘No way we lose this game,’ "said Giavanna Paradiso, who led Watterson with 14 points. “It doesn’t make our season, but we had to win it. Coach Woodford told us that there is no nine-point play in basketball. He said win every two minutes. We looked up and it was tied."
As usual, Watterson has no 6-footer in the lineup. What Eagles do is win with team defense, ball-handling, speed and making free throws.
“My group was perfect in practice the other day," Garrett said. “We really focus on our free throws. A lot of games come down to them. You don’t look at the scoreboard. You shoot them just like in practice."
Hartley coach Donald Dennis is bullish on his team.
“We’re excited about our journey," he said. “We have a lot to play for. Our kids are playing with a lot of confidence. We’re relevant. We have all the components."
Three players scored in double figures, led by Dani Lancia with 15 points, as visiting Ready (8-10, 2-3) secured a CCL win over DeSales (8-9, 2-3). Katelyn Wolfe added 13 points and Dani Hall chipped in 10 — seven coming at the free-throw line — for the Silver Knights, who never trailed in the second half. Emma Burns scored 10 for the Stallions, who committed 23 turnovers.
Visiting Jonathan Alder (9-9, 4-4) began the second half on a 10-2 run to pull away from Buckeye Valley (8-8, 3-5) in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference Red Division game. Sydney Bourqin scored 12 points and Lilly Hess scored 10 for the Pioneers, who had 17 steals. Morgan Scowdon scored 12 points for the Barons, who could not overcome 24 turnovers and 28 percent shooting from the field.
Sarah Lidonnice had 16 points and Sydney Worthy scored 14 to lead visiting Madison Christian (11-5) past CSG (9-8) in a nonleague game. Imani Babatunde scored 19 points for CSG.