Tidioute Community Charter School's first victory of the season was one to remember.
The Lady Bulldogs erased an 11-point deficit Tuesday at Warren County Christian School, ending a 10-game losing streak with a 31-27 come-from-behind victory over the Lady Lions at WCCS.
"Going into halftime, we knew if we had any chance to win, we'd have to win the third quarter - and we didn't do that," said TCCS coach Ted Nuttall. "But these girls never gave up. We made a couple shots and as we got closer, the girls started believing they could pull it off."
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Times Observer photo by Allen Seybert
Winning feeling
At left, Tidioute Community Charter School’s Loralee Lindemuth receives a hug from teammate Lacy Wolford (23). At right, TCCS assistant coach Jacki Nuttall talks with player Morgan Molek (42). TCCS ended a 10-game losing streak with a 31-27 victory over Warren County Christian School Tuesday at WCCS.
While the win was big for all members of the Lady Bulldogs' program, Nuttall said he was most happy for the seniors.
"I'm glad they didn't have to go out without a win," said Nuttall. "I'm just very happy and excited for them."
A win didn't seem likely early as Alyssa Kerr and Rachel Wilkins combined for all 16 of WCCS' first-half points as the Lady Lions built a 16-10 halftime advantage.
In the opening moments of the third quarter, the Lady Lions managed to extend the lead to double digits at 21-10.
Then, the Bulldogs began to show their bite.
Loralee Lindemuth hit a pair of jump shots and Robbi Kitelinger made a breakaway layup as TCCS closed the third quarter on a 6-0 run to get within five at 21-16.
That run extended into the fourth quarter and Aubrey Sonney's putback with 5:57 left in the fourth gave the Bulldogs their first lead since it was 2-0 early in the first period.
That one point lead would hold up until the final moments of the game as TCCS led 27-26 with 53 seconds to play. First, Lacey Kitelinger was fouled, making one of two and extending the lead to two. Seconds later, Lacy Wolford did the same and TCCS led by a count of 29-26.
With 36 seconds to play, WCCS' Christina Girard was fouled in the act of shooting and the Lady Lions senior made one of two to get WCCS within two at 29-27.
The score remained that way until just 15 seconds remained in the game when Sonney was fouled and sent to the charity stripe for two shots. Sonney missed both, but Lacey Kitelinger corralled the rebound and put the ball in the hoop to close out the scoring at 31-27.
"We were missing our starting point guard and that hurt us tonight," said WCCS coach Rae Parmeter. "(TCCS) did a nice job of adjusting at halftime and double teaming Alyssa. Still, if a couple of our shots had fallen late, we may have got the win. We're looking forward to playing them again (on Monday)."
Lindemuth had a big game for the winners, finishing with 13 points. Robbi Kitelinger added six points, Wolford and Lacey Kitelinger five points each and Sonney scored two points.
Kerr's 15 points was tops for WCCS, Wilkins added eight and Girard and Jessica Lauffenburger scored two points apiece. Girard added six rebounds and six blocks, Lauffenburger had eight boards and three assists and Kerr pulled down 13 rebounds.
WCCS (3-7) returns to action Friday at Jamestown Bethel. TCCS (1-10) will host Erie Bethel on Thursday.
TCCS (31): Loralee Lindemuth 5 1-4 13, Lacy Wolford 2 1-6 5, Lacey Kitelinger 2 1-2 5, Aubrey Sonney 1 0-2 2, Robbi Kitelinger 2 2-4 6, Morgan Molek 0 0-0 0, Emalie Scharlberl 0 0-0 0, Totals: 12 5-18 31
WCCS (27): Rachel Wilkins 4 0-1 8, Alyssa Kerr 5 5-6 15, Christina Girard 0 2-4 2, Jessica Lauffenburger 1 0-0 2, Kyra Keeler 0 0-0 0, Kim Drake 0 0-0 0, Caitlin McCall 0 0-0 0, Totals: 10 7-11 27
TCCS 2 8 6 15 - 31
WCCS 4 12 5 6 - 27
3-pointers: T- Lindemuth 2; W- None
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Titusville 43, Eisenhower 40
Just one more second.
Kristen Williams drained what would have been a game-tying 3-pointer, but she got the shot off a split second after the final buzzer sounded. Eisenhower's girls basketball team dropped a heartbreaking 43-40 decision to visiting Titusville on Tuesday at Eisenhower High School.
Eisenhower (4-12) kept battling back from second-half deficits of five, nine and seven points, but just couldn't get ahead against the Rockets (4-13).
"They held us to just four points in the second quarter and that was the difference," said Eisenhower coach Mike Logue. "It was more that we missed a ton of layups (in the quarter) that was the difference."
The Rockets held a 23-16 lead coming out of halftime and scored the first field goal of the third quarter. The Knights answered with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 25-22. Titusville answered with a 5-0 run to extend its lead to 30-22. Eisenhower moved to a press defense which led to turnovers and Williams scored eight straight points for the Knights to cut the deficit to just two points at 32-30. Lyssa Knapp tied the game with a layup with a minute remaining in the period, but the Rockets scored just before the end of the quarter to take a 34-32 lead into the fourth quarter.
"We wanted to pick spots where we used the press," Logue said. "We went to it early and they were able to make some long passes. When we went back to it later we got the turnovers."
Eisenhower got an early field goal to tie the game in the fourth. Titusville answered with an 8-0 run to make it 42-34. The Rockets would only score one more point in the game from that point as Eisenhower tried to get back in it. Williams buried a 3-pointer with just over a minute to go to make it 42-39. Alyssa Peterson went 1-of-2 from the line to pull the Knights within two.
On the ensuing Titusville possession the Rockets point guard slipped and was called for a traveling violation. She slammed the ball and was called for a technical foul. The Knights missed both free throws and a field goal on the possession to keep it a two-point game. Titusville went 1-of-2 from the line with 39 seconds remaining.
Eisenhower got the ball back with just three seconds left on the clock, but had to use two passes to get the ball in Williams' hands and she just didn't have enough time left to get the shot off before the horn.
Williams led all scorers with 21 points. Peterson had nine points, Knapp had six markers and Halie VanOrd led the team with six rebounds.
Eisenhower will travel to Conneaut Lake for a Region 3 matchup on Thursday. The Knights are 1-3 in the Region while Conneaut Lake sits at 0-8.
Titusville won the junior varsity game 23-16. Kearsten Maine had six points for the Knights in the loss.
TITUSVILLE (43): Champion 4 0-5 10, Kriner 2 5-7 10, Scott 4 0-0 8, Drusko 2 3-6 7, Champion 2 0-1 4, Jacobs 1 0-0 2, Popham 1 0-0 2, Totals 16 8-18 43.
EISENHOWER (40): Kristen Williams 8 1-2 21, Alyssa Peterson 4 1-2 9, Lyssa Knapp 2 2-2 6, Holly Chapman 1 0-2 2, Halie VanOrd 1 0-2 2, Haylie Birt 0 0-0 0, Dakota Williams 0 0-0 0, Kari Santo 0 0-0 0, Totals 16 4-10 40.
Titusville 13 10 11 9 -43
Eisenhower 12 4 16 8 -40
3-pointers: T-Champion 2, Kriner. E-K. Williams 4.
Junior varsity game
TITUSVILLE (23): Popham 2 3-6 7, Scott 2 0-0 4, Jacobs 2 0-0 4, Hernandez 1 2-2 4, Moore 1 0-2 2, Champion 0 0-0 0, Galmish 0 0-0 0, Myers 0 0-0 0, Totals 9 5-10 23.
EISENHOWER (16): Kearsten Maine 3 0-2 6, Meghan Hagberg 1 2-2 4, Haylie Birt 1 1-2 3, Cassidy Edwards 1 0-0 2, Sierra Lange 0 1-2 1, Bailey Burch 0 0-0 0, Chelsea Parmenter 0 0-0 0, Danielle Bradish 0 0-0 0, Jackie Talasky 0 0-0 0, Aysia Peters 0 0-0 0, Kourtney Knapp 0 0-0 0, Totals 6 4-8 16.
Titsuville 2 8 9 4 -23
Eisenhower 4 0 2 10 -16
3-pointers: T-None. E-None.