South Range pulls out 50-47 win

Cindy Schuler's basket with eight seconds remaining beat Springfield.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW MIDDLETOWN -- In a game that featured 12 ties and 15 lead changes, it was only fitting that the outcome of Thursday night's South Range-Springfield girls basketball game came down to the final eight seconds of play.
Cindy Schuler's bucket with eight seconds remaining broke a 47-47 tie, and the South Range defense forced a turnover on Springfield's inbound pass as the Raiders rallied to defeat the Tigers, 50-47 in Inter-County League action.
"This team is all heart. They've been down before and never seem to panic when they face adversity," South Range coach Sandy Toy said.
"We have three seniors on this team and always rely on their leadership. What it comes down to is being fundamentally sound and we have had to rely on good fundamental play. This was a big win for us."
Fell behind early
The Raiders (10-4, 7-1) fell behind at the outset, 8-0, but cut the Springfield lead to a point on the strength of Schuler's bucket and a conventional three-point play.
Mindy Ritzler and Joanna Dick each scored four points to key a 9-3 run as the Tigers built a 17-10 advantage after one period of play.
"We played with a ton of intensity at the beginning of the game, but seemed to lose it. We looked to score then lost some of our confidence," Tiger head coach Sandi Kohler said.
"We called a timeout at the end of the game to make sure that we could get the best possible shot. It just didn't work out that way for us tonight."
A free throw by Ritzler and bucket by Christy Warren from beyond the arc to start the second quarter increased the Tiger lead to 21-11.
Big run cuts lead
The Raiders, however, went on a 13-0 run, scoring 16 of the final 23 first half points to trail by just two at intermission, 28-26.
Paced by Kelcie Witmer, who scored all six of her points in the third quarter, a frame that featured six ties and five lead changes, South Range outscored the Tigers by a 14-12 count to knot the game at 40 with eight minutes remaining.
Samantha Cavalier's three-point play with 1:14 remaining then gave Springfield a 47-46 advantage, but Annie Semko converted the second of two free throw attempts to knot the game at 47-all, setting the stage for Schuler's go-ahead jumper and insurance free throw.
The Raiders were 19 of 43 from the field and just one of five from beyond the arc, winning for the fifth straight time and the fourth under Toy, who took over for Dave Owen when he stepped aside due to medical reasons.
Cold from field
The Tigers (7-6, 5-3) were 17 of 47 from the field and three of seven from 3-point range, had their modest two-game win streak snapped, losing for the second time this season to the Raiders.
Neither team shot particularly well from free throw line. The Raiders canned just 11 of 22 from the charity stripe with the Tigers missing seven of their 17 free throw attempts.
South Range held a 27-22 edge on the boards.