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Bonus hoops: Newton Falls captures record 19th victory in OT
By BRANDON JUDEH
NEWTON FALLS
The final week of the girls basketball regular season is often looked at as one last tune-up for tournament play.
The Newton Falls and Maplewood teams experienced that on Thursday as the two battled it out all night, before the Tigers won, 61-55, in overtime.
The win was extra special for the Tigers (19-3, 8-2 All-American Conference National Division) as they set the school wins record with their 19th victory.
“It feels amazing, we couldn’t have asked for a better group of girls,” senior guard Danielle King said. “Every single girl on this team is a great teammate.”
It was a special night for King as she set the school record for most assists — 106 for her career.
The feat was something King was unaware of until her coach, Mark Baker, gathered her and the rest of her teammates near half court to make the announcement.
“I had no idea, it was news to me,” King said.
Not surprisingly, King showed why she is the Tigers all-time assists queen.
“It’s definitely a great feeling, but I have to give all the credit to those girls,” King said. “This record has nothing to do with me, they are the ones that deserve the credit.”
King finished with 10 points and four assists.
King’sclassmate, Victoria Workman, says that the win is bittersweet.
“This was a great win, but it is going to be weird not playing here ever again, it hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Workman who scored six points. “But I could not have asked for a better season, what an awesome team.”
It was a tightly contested game from start to finish, but Maplewood (12-4) took some momentum into the final quarter when sophomore Miranda Sloan drained a 3-pointer to give the Rockets a three-point lead, but the Tigers roared back.
In the first minute of the fourth quarter, Newton Falls went on an 8-0 run to grab what looked like a commanding lead.
The Rockets had other ideas. Sloan sank a big 3-point basket with 55 seconds remaining to tie the game.
After stealing the inbounds pass with four seconds remaining, Hannah Zelle threw up an desperation three that clunked off the iron to send the game into overtime.
In overtime, Brooke Barreca, who scored 12 points and grabbed nine boards, hit two free throws to give the Tigers a two-point lead.
Moments later King picked up a steal and a bucket to put the game out of reach.
Zelle led the Tigers with 19 points.
Allison Bell led the Rockets with 18 points. Brooke Dawson added 16 points and nine rebounds while Ryley Urchek chipped in with 12.