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Eagles pass ‘Cats in overtime, 48-43

Photo by Mike Morrison Waterford’s Jennessa Lang (12) shoots while Belpre’s Curstin Giffin tries to block during a high school girls basketball game Monday night in Waterford.

WATERFORD — It’s hard enough to score a road win against a team with a history as rich as the Waterford Wildcats, let alone capturing a victory after spotting them a double-digit lead.

The Belpre Golden Eagles found a way Monday night in a Tri- Valley Conference thriller at Waterford Elementary as they rallied from a 13-point second half deficit to stun the Wildcats 48-43 in overtime.

After forcing extended play by out-pointing the home team 26-14 in the second half Belpre quickly fell behind by three in overtime thanks to a field goal and a free throw from Waterford’s lone senior Maggie Huffman before going on a 10-0 run to pull off the win and score a season sweep over the Lady ‘Cats.

An old-fashioned three-point play by freshman Kaitlin Bush tied the game at 41-41 and a pair of freebies by senior Halee Williams put the Eagles in front for good.

Williams made another free throw and junior Curstin Giffin made four-of-six in the closing 30 seconds to seal the deal and give the Eagles their 14th win of the season against just four losses.

“We were down double-digits and I thought the girls did a great job of just chipping away and they just kept going and going,” said Belpre head coach Chris Murray. “We forced enough empty possessions there where we got an opportunity to come back and we made the most of it.”

Waterford came out clicking on all cylinders as they out-scored the visitors 15-6 in the opening period thanks in part to the hot hand of sophomore Jennessa Lang who knocked down a pair of triples.

Lang continued her hot start to open the second quarter as she connected once again from long range to give Waterford a 12-point lead that they would manage to hang on to at the end of the first half.

The Lady Eagles quickly cut the lead to 10 when Williams scored an inside bucket to open the second half but the Wildcats did them one better when sophomore Mackenzie Suprano splashed in a triple to give the white and green their biggest lead of the game at 27-14 with five minutes to play in the third.

Belpre began to pick up their pressure defensively and that sparked a huge run that got them right back into the game.

Williams got the comeback started with a basket off of an offensive rebound and Bush followed with her first of two 3-point plays in the game to cut the lead to eight.

Five points in the closing minute of the third by senior Kyna Waderker brought Belpre to within four before they quickly tied the score early in the fourth quarter on a three-pointer by senior Kyanna Ray and a pair of freebies by Giffin.

Wadeker came up with a huge steal at mid-court and cashed it in with a bucket to give Belpre it’s first lead since the opening minute of the game.

“We started out playing man defense and Waterford shot the ball really well in the first quarter so we switched to zone,” said Murray. “We switched back to man about midway through the third and picked our intensity up and it paid off.”

The two traded the lead late in the fourth quarter as both Ray and Suprano knocked down huge triples for their respective teams before Giffin and Waterford junior Riley Schweikert each made a pair of clutch free throws in the closing ten seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime.

The loss was a tough one for the Wildats to swallow after playing some of their best basketball of the season in the opening half while building the big lead.

“We panicked a little bit under the pressure and we have got to get better handling the basketball against the press,” said Close, whose team turned the ball over an uncharacteristic 22 times in the game. “We played well in the first half we have just got to figure out how to play like that for all four quarters.”

Wadeker led all scorers with 15 points in the game while also pulling down seven rebounds and coming up with five steals while Giffin scored all 11 of her points at the charity stripe after missing a good part of the game after taking a hard fall in the second quarter.

“Her back was hurting her pretty good but she is a tough nosed kid,” said Murray of Giffin. “Those free throws at the end were the ones that mattered and she got the job done.”

The Wildcats, who slipped to 10-6 with the loss were led by Schweikert with 13 points and Lang with nine.

Both teams return to action Thursday, as Belpre will host Williamstown while the Wildcats travel to Southern.

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