Injury-plagued Lowellville tops JFK in 2 overtimes

March 6, 2011 at 12:09a.m.

HUBBARD

In hindsight, the story is easy to see.

Trailing by two points to Warren JFK in the second overtime of the biggest game of the season, Lowellville assistant basketball coach Ashleigh Tondo pulled junior point guard Emily Carlson aside and whispered in her ear, “You need to step it up and take charge out there.”

Tondo, you see, had been The Player in 2006 on McDonald’s district championship team and her late-game instincts were screaming at her from the pit of her stomach. Carlson may be best known as part of a trio, but with junior guards Taylor Hvisdak (torn ACL) and Ashley Moore (fouled out) no longer an option, she was now the headliner. It was Carlson’s moment.

That’s why Tondo overruled Rockets head coach Tony Matisi on what would be the most important call of the game, calling for Carlson to take the game’s decisive shot on a played called “Smash,” when Matisi had wanted to call something else.

And it’s why Carlson didn’t hide from the challenge.

“Oh my gosh, I was so flustered but I finally calmed myself down and closed my eyes and said, ‘I’m going to regret this if I don’t step it up,’” Carlson said. “So I just did what I had to do.”

So, with 1:20 left, Lowellville freshman Katie Seidita fired a pass to Carlson at the top of the key. Carlson caught it behind the 3-point line and buried the shot to give the Rockets a one-point lead

Eighty seconds, two more Carlson free throws and last-ditch 3-point miss later, Lowellville celebrated its straight Division IV district championship, 50-47, at Hubbard High School.

“I’ve never felt this good after a game in my life,” said Carlson, who finished with 18 points.

So that’s the story in hindsight. In reality, it was so much messier.

Lowellville started the season with a legitimate chance of making its first state tournament trip only to see those hopes take a hit when sophomore starter Kaye Solak tore her ACL in December. Then, a week before the district final, Hvisdak went down with a torn ACL, an unfair development made worse by the fact that she broke her arm in last year’s district tournament.

“When it happened, it was the worst feeling ever,” said Carlson of Hvisdak’s injury. “I just wanted to crawl in a ball and cry.

“But when I woke up the next morning, I was like, ‘We can still do this.’”

The Rockets easily beat Leetonia in the district semis and seemed poised to roll to the district crown after opening up an 11-point lead on JFK late in the second quarter. Then the Eagles stepped up their defense, started making shots and slowly started chipping away.

Just before the end of the third quarter, they tied it and finally took the lead midway through the fourth. With the game tied at 40 in the final seconds, senior Paige Klaric had a good look at a running right-hander just inside the foul line that bounced three times and fell out.

Neither team shot well in the first overtime — they each scored two points — but Kennedy took a three-point lead in the opening minute of the second overtime and seemed to have the momentum. But a missed free throw and four straight turnovers set up Carlson’s dramatics.

JFK (17-5) had a good look to tie it just before the buzzer but the 3-pointer fell short and Lowellville’s Madison Opritza grabbed the rebound to seal it.

“They’re a great bunch of kids and it’s about them; that’s where the hurt comes from,” said JFK coach John Baytos. “We were good today. We just didn’t have that last thing to pull this out.”

The Rockets did, giving Matisi his 300th victory and a date with Shadyside in Thursday’s regional semifinals at Massillon High School.

When asked where this victory ranked next to the other 299, Matisi smiled and said, “This is big. It’s because of the adversity.

“Sometimes I don’t know what the big man upstairs is doing to us, but I still believe.”