ICL Nero's late drive rescues Rockets

South Range led with four seconds to play.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NORTH LIMA -- Lowellville High junior basketball player Amanda Nero has already made a lot of big shots for the Rockets in her career.
Thursday, Nero added to her legacy when she drove the lane and scored with 3.1 seconds remaining, giving the Rockets a 47-46 win at South Range.
"[Nero] has to have the ball in that situation," Lowellville coach Tony Matisi said. "That's where we want the ball -- in her hands every time.
"She wants the ball. Her teammates want her to have the ball, so we obliged," Matisi said.
Nero's shot came after South Range senior Kelly Skrinyer, who came off the bench, made the second of her two 3-pointers to give the Raiders a 46-45 lead with 35 seconds remaining.
After the teams traded turnovers, Matisi called timeout with 12.1 seconds to go to set up the winning play.
"We work on situations like that in every practice," Matisi said. "This is the first time we had to use [that play] all year. Luckily, Rebecca Basista found Nero and got her the ball."
Three-game losing streak
South Range (8-8, 6-4 Inter-County League) couldn't get off a shot in the final seconds, dropping its third game in a row.
"This was a good game played by both teams," South Range coach Brad Porinchak said. "We told them at the last timeout that Nero was going to take charge and yet they still caught us."
South Range played a much tougher game than it did against the Rockets (11-4, 7-2) earlier this season, when Lowellville won 65-37 on its home court.
The Raiders got an outstanding game from sophomore Rara Chizmar, who had 14 points and nine rebounds. Natalie Biastro scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
"We changed our lineup around and started some younger kids because we haven't had good chemistry lately," Porinchak said. "Tonight when some of the seniors got in, it made them play harder and they responded."
Big lead
Lowellville threatened to pull away by going on an 11-2 run late in the third quarter and early in the fourth to lead, 43-34.
But South Range surged back with a man-to-man defense that forced Lowellville into six straight turnovers. Overall, the Rockets turned the ball over 28 times.
Junior Dana Donatelli, who scored 14 points and had 14 rebounds, helped Lowellville to its second-half lead.
The Rockets were coming off a tough loss to Springfield on Monday and Matisi wasn't sure what to expect.
"I wasn't sure how we would respond tonight," Matisi said. "But this is a big win for us heading into postseason play. It was nice to see us get back on a winning track."