Waterford’s Reese Lang, left, brings the ball up the court as Eastern’s Lane Atha defends during Friday’s game at the Harry Cooper Annex. (Photo by Patricia Miller)

WATERFORD – The Waterford Wildcats were able to make a whole bunch of plays in the second half Friday night as they fought their way back from a double-digit deficit to the Eastern Eagles in a Tri-Valley Conference showdown at the Cooper Annex.

In the end the D.J. Cunningham-coached Wildcats would come up one play short as their comeback bid was thwarted and the Eagles escaped with a narrow 50-48 win.

The Eagles never trailed in the game but had their hands full down the stretch with a Wildcat squad trying to gain a measure of revenge after an early season 56-42 loss to Eastern in Reedsville.

Early on it was all Eagles as they opened the game by scoring nine unanswered points in the opening two and a half minutes.

The Wildcats finally got on the board with a two-pointer from sophomore Reese Lang.

Waterford’s Elsie Malec, left, guards Eastern’s Makenzie Robertson during Friday’s game at the Harry Cooper Annex. (Photo by Patricia Miller)

Colt Lloyd answered for the Eagles and after a pair of free throws by Waterford sophomore Finn Pennock, Lloyd struck again with another two-pointer to give the Eagles a 13-4 lead.

Waterford managed to trim the lead to 16-11 at the end of the first quarter and closed the lead to three when Lang opened up the second quarter with another two-pointer.

Lloyd was a tough match-up all game long for the Wildcats as he proved by scoring seven consecutive points including a three-pointer as the Eagles extended their lead to a game-high 15 with just over a minute to play in the half.

The Wildcats did manage to draw a bit closer before the intermission as they got a pair of free throws by Gavin Heiner and a short jumper by Pennock that beat the halftime buzzer.

Whatever Cunningham said to his squad at the break must have made quite an impression as the Wildcats strung together their best stretch of basketball on the night to crawl right back into it.

The Wildcats used a pressure defense to force Eastern into several miscues as they turned the deficit that once stood at 15 into a single point with five minutes left to play in the third.

Four points apiece by Heiner and fellow sophomore Tyson Franchino and a drive to the bucket for two by senior Cole Sparling-Ponchak accounted for

the 10 points in the Wildcat run that was actually 14 counting the final four points of the first half.

The Eagles were finally able to stop the bleeding on a pair of freebies by Lloyd and a two-pointer by Gavin Murphy.

Eastern managed to hang onto a three-point lead heading to the final period and opened the fourth with a big three-pointer from Derrick Barnes.

The Eagles still led by five with just under two minutes to play when the Wildcats made one more late run at them.

Pennock’s step-back three-pointer cut the lead to 47-45 but the Eagles answered right back with a field goal by Murphy.

Both teams turned the ball over on their next possessions before Waterford got a huge three-point play from Franchino as he drove strong to the bucket and finished with the left hand with less than 30 seconds to play.

The Wildcats fouled Lloyd on the next Eastern possession and he was able to make just one-of two giving the Wildcats a shot to either tie the game or win it with a three.

Waterford turned the ball over however only to catch a huge break when Eastern’s Ethan Edwards missed a pair of free throws.

Pennock grabbed the rebound with 4.1 seconds left to give the Wildcats one more last shot at a miracle finish.

Eastern had a foul to give and they wisely used it on Pennock who caught the in-bound pass to take another 1.2 seconds off the clock.

With just 2.9 seconds to play the Wildcats were able to get the ball into Pennock’s hands around mid-court but his desperation shot was well off the mark as the final buzzer sounded.

Lloyd led all scorers with 23 points while Murphy reached double-digits with 11 for Eastern who improved to 9-7 and 4-2 in the conference.

The loss left Waterford with a 6-8 record overall and a 2-4 mark in the TVC.

Pennock led a very balanced Waterford attack with 13 points while Heiner completed a double-double with 12 points and 12 boards.

Lang added 12 more while Franchino finished with nine.

The Wildcats will host Federal Hocking on Thursday.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

At least temporarily the days of the heated Waterford versus Eastern games on the basketball court appear to be over as the Wildcats rolled to a 55-14 win prior to the boys game.

Waterford led 19-3 after the first quarter and expanded that lead to 31-8 at the break by out-pointing the Eagles 12-5 in the second period.

Things would get no easier at all for the Lady Eagles in the third period as the Wildcats scored 19 unanswered points to set the running clock in motion.

Unfortunately the game could prove to be a costly one for the Wildcats who were already playing without senior Avery Smithberger who suffered a leg injury Monday against Fort Frye.

Starting guard Elsie Malec left the game early and did not return after suffering some kind of a foot injury in the win over Eastern.

Wildcats seniors Avery Wagner and Kendall Sury each completed a double-double for the Lady ‘Cats who improved to 18-1 and 9-0 in conference play with the win.

Wagner finished with 16 points and 13 boards while Sury yanked down 11 rebounds to go along with her 12 points.

Waterford freshman Brynnlee Pottmeyer added 10 points .

Eastern failed to make a single two-point field goal in the game as all of their points came from either behind the arc or at the charity stripe.

Makenzie Robertson made a pair of three-pointers while Sydney Mora and Braelyn Simpson added one apiece for the Eagles who slipped to 1-14 overall.

Waterford will travel to Belpre on Thursday.