ATHOL – When the game was on the line the Turners Falls girls basketball came through with some clutch moments and beat Athol High School 66-58 in overtime on Friday night.
First there was Lindsay Whiteman, who was at the free throw line with four seconds left with the Thunder trailing by a point.
“It was super stressful,” Whiteman said. “I just had to focus in on it. Just thinking that this could be our chance.”
Amid crowd noise from the Athol student section, Whiteman connected on the second free throw to send the game into overtime.
Then in overtime, Lily Spera came through with five of her seven points to help put away the Red Raiders and give Turners Falls its first win of the season.
“I wanted to get us a win,” Spera said. “We are a hard-working team.”
The Thunder (1-18) lost to the Red Raiders in overtime earlier in the season.
“The season isn’t a total loss,” Whiteman said. “It’s nice. It was great to be the one to put us into overtime.”
A big reason Turners Falls stayed close was the play of Dabney Rollins, whose relentless work on the glass gave the Thunder several second chance points
Rollins had 25 points for Turners Falls. The final quarter had seven lead changes.
“We were 0-18 and never gave up,” Turners coach Ed Marvell said. “At practice and everything. They still were selfless. They worked hard for this win.”
Athol (4-15) got a number of clutch plays down the stretch of regulation.
A Rozlyn Nelson put back gave the Red Raiders a 55-53 lead with 1 minute, 14 seconds left in the game. Kendall Deleo then gave Athol a 56-53 lead at the free throw line.
Deleo was 5-for-6 from the line in the fourth quarter and scored all of her seven points in the final frame.
Hailey Bogusz made two free throws to cut the lead to 56-55 before Whiteman’s shot sent it to overtime.
Athol had an overtime win the night before against Narragansett.
“It’s frustrating after what we did last night,” Atholk coach Kelly Kaczmarczyk said,” They worked so well as a team. But something just didn’t connect tonight.”
Haley Bigwood had 18 points for Athol but did not play in overtime due to a coaching decision.
Geca Baptista scored 12 points, while Taylor Cleveland dropped 16 points for Athol.
Whiteman and Aly Murphy’s shooting in the second quarter helped the Thunder stay close in the second quarter.
Murphy had five points all in the second.
Athol’s lead of 30-24 was the biggest of the game for either team.
Turners 66, Athol 58
Turners (66)
Johnson 2-0—4, Moreno, Fleming 2-1—5, Whiteman 5-4—15, Murphy 2-0—5, Rollins 10-5—25, Waldron 0-1—1, Bogusz 0-2—2, La. Spera 1-0—2, Li. Spera 3-1—7, Lu. Spera. Totals 25-14–66.
Athol (58)
Nelson 1-0—2, Cleveland 5-6—16, Deleo 1-5—7, Baptista 3-5—12, Bigwood 8-2—18, St. Cyr 1-0—3, Wrigley. Totals: 19-18–58.
3-Point Goals: (TF) Murphy, Whiteman. (A) St. Cyr, Baptista.
Score by quarters:
|
Turners |
13 |
13 |
10 |
20 |
10—66 |
|
|
Athol |
16 |
14 |
7 |
19 |
2— |
58 |
