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| Friday September 03, 2010 | Sidney Daily News Online - 937-498-5939 |
| 2/25/2010 8:51:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| HOUSTON’S DANIELLE Monnier defends as Riverside’s Amelia Carter goes up for a shot in action at Sidney Wednesday in Division IV sectional play. Riverside upset the lady Wildcats 61-58.
SDN Photo/Aaron Pollock |
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Riverside upsets No. 2 seed Houston in D-IV semifinals
By Matt Zircher
Sports Writer
Trailing by as much as 12 in the early going and down five in the closing minute, the Houston Lady Wildcats rallied to tie the score against Riverside with 25 seconds left.
The Lady Pirates, however, would have the final say as an Abby Heaberlin three from the right wing with 10 seconds to play gave Riverside a 61-58 victory in the Division IV girls lower bracket sectional semifinals at Sidney High School Wednesday night.
Riverside, now 14-7, advances to the sectional finals Saturday at 1:45 against Triad. Houston sees its season end at 15-7.
It was all Pirates in the opening six minutes as after Jaclyn Willoughby gave Houston a brief 3-2 lead with a three from the top of the key, Riverside followed by scoring the next 10 points, four of those coming from Erica Snapp. Willoughby broke a 5:10 Wildcat scoring drought with a fast-break layup at the 1:29 mark, but the Pirates extended the margin to 18-6 before Willoughby hit two of three foul shots as she was fouled on a three attempt just ahead of the horn.
"I thought we would have an advantage coming in having already played one game on the floor, but that wasn't the case," said Houston coach Greg Ward. "It looked like we were the ones who hadn't played on the floor early on. We played out of control and didn't do a good job of running our offense."
A Brittany Shough triple made it 21-12 two minutes into the second quarter, but Willoughby drew Houston to within three with six straight points. Amelia Carter snapped that string with a layup, only to see Houston tie it at 23 with 1:03 remaining on a three and jumper by Allison Roeth.
The score was tied again twice early in the third quarter before Danielle Monnier hit two foul shots and a later three from the right corner to give Houston a 34-29 lead at the 4:18 mark. Another Wildcat triple, this time by Roeth, extended the lead to six and the margin seesawed between four and six until a Shough basket made it 41-39 with 33 seconds left in the stanza.
A Bethany Reister free throw, though, closed out the scoring in the third period and despite Riverside cutting the deficit to one twice in the first minute of the fourth quarter, Houston maintained the lead and went up 49-45 on a Kristi Elliott jumper with 5:52 to play.
A Sarah Schindewolf three, however, drew Riverside to within one and, after an Emily Ferguson free throw, Snapp tallied six straight to give the Pirates a 54-50 lead with three minutes left.
Two foul shots from Willoughby and one by Elliott again made it a one-point contest with 2:02 remaining, but Riverside looked to be in control as Heaberlin hit two from the line at the 1:38 mark and, after a missed free throw by the Pirates, Heaberlin came up with the offensive rebound and putback to make it 58-53 with 49 seconds left.
Houston, though, would answer quickly. After two Willoughby foul shots and a Riverside turnover at midcourt on the ensuing possession, Monnier drilled a three from the right wing with 25 seconds to go to tie it at 58.
Heaberlin, however, would strike again with the game-winner as Brooklynn Purtee found her open on the right wing for a three with 10 seconds left.
The Wildcats had one last chance, but the Pirates fouled at midcourt at the 2.3-second mark and Houston came up empty on two missed foul shots and Purtee coming up with the defensive rebound as time expired.
"Give Riverside credit, they came out playing hard and did what they had to do to win the game," said Ward. "They did the right thing at the end by fouling us and not allowing us to get off a three."
Riverside held a 43-25 rebounding advantage, including 15-8 on the offensive end.
Willoughby paced all scorers with 25 points for the Wildcats, 16 coming in the first half, while Monnier scored all 13 of her points after halftime and Roeth added 10.
Carter led the Pirates with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds while Snapp had 14 points and Heaberlin also posted a double-double of 13 points and 16 boards.
Houston (58)
Willoughby 6-12-25; Elliott 1-1-3; Monnier 4-2-13; Ferguson 1-2-4; Roeth 4-0-10; Reister 1-1-3. Totals: 17-18-58.
Riverside (61)
Snapp 5-4-14; Shough 4-0-9; Heaberlin 5-2-13; Carter 9-2-20; Schindewolf 2-0-5. Totals: 25-8-61.
Score by quarters
Houston 8 23 42 58
Riverside 18 25 39 61
Three pointers: Houston 6 (Monnier 3, Roeth 2, Willoughby); Riverside 3 (Shough, Heaberlin, Schindewolf).
Records: Houston 15-7, Riverside 14-7.
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