The Tigers prevailed in overtime against the Clippers.

The Tigers prevailed in overtime against the Clippers.
NEW MIDDLETOWN -- After an exciting up-tempo game that featured several scoring spurts, six ties and five lead changes, Springfield High led by two with 19 seconds remaining in overtime when Angelina Fiumara stepped to the free throw line.
The charity stripe had been anything but generous to Springfield that night -- the Tigers had missed 18-of-30 -- but the senior coolly sank two when it mattered the most, sealing a 57-53 victory over Columbiana.
"It was huge, but that's what seniors are supposed to do," Springfield coach Sandi Kohler said.
Fiumara finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, while the Tigers' other senior, Lindsay Johnson, led the team with 17 points -- including five in overtime -- while making 4-of-6 on 3-pointers.
The Clippers' Whitney Goist and Kristina Davidson led all players with 18 points, but it wasn't enough.
Momentum boost
The loss was only the second of the season for Columbiana (8-2, 5-0 Tri-County League), while Springfield improved to 5-3 (2-1 Inner-County League).
"This win will give us a lot of momentum," Johnson said. "We've been struggling so far this year, and [Columbiana] is a really good team, probably the best team that we've played yet, and to win is real good because now we know we should be able to beat any team on our schedule."
Columbiana played without its leading scorer, senior Lisa Simon, who was suspended for one game for missing practice. Only seven players logged minutes for the Clippers, which may have explained why they faltered in overtime, coach Wayne Johnson said.
Johnson gave his players credit for stepping up, but he blamed turnovers and a lack of execution for the loss.
"We did what we wanted to do -- we had opportunities -- but we just didn't convert them all," he said.
The Clippers began the game with an 8-1 run, but Springfield responded on its home court with a 10-4 run of its own, sparked by a long jumper from junior Christy Warren, who also knocked down a huge 3-pointer in overtime that gave the Tigers the lead for good at 65-63.
Halftime lead
Columbiana led 37-34 at halftime, largely due to the efforts of Goist and Davidson, who scored 14 and 13 points. In the first quarter, the Tigers couldn't stop Goist's drives to the basket, while in the second quarter they had no answer for Davidson in the low post.
In the second half, however, Springfield switched defensive assignments by putting Fiumara on Goist, effectively slowing down the Columbiana guard. The halftime deficit was also quickly erased when the Tigers' Johnson hit a 3-pointer to begin the third quarter.
After the Clippers regained a lead at 41-39, Johnson responded with 10 straight points, including two 3s that hit nothing but net.
Springfield took a 52-46 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Clippers locked down on defense and held the Tigers to just five points in the period. Tigers point guard Chelsea Quimby had a chance to ice the game when she stepped to the free throw line with less than a minute remaining, but the front end of her 1-and-1 spun off the rim.
In the ensuing trip down the court, Columbiana's Stacie Cross swished a jumper to tie the game at 57 with 25 seconds remaining. Cross had a shot to win the game at the end of regulation, but her half-court heave at the buzzer clanked off the rim.
"I got a little nervous, because it looked like it could go from where I was standing," Kohler said about that shot.
The Tigers then outscored the Clippers 10-6 in overtime.
"I'm just excited that my kids hung on," Kohler said. "Columbiana is a good basketball team, and that's a big win for us, and hopefully we can take this and get to the next step."