Walling does it all for Storm in upset Scores 16 in 4th quarter as UV wins, 55-50 HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS BASKETBALL By Rob Centorani Contributing Writer HARPURSVILLE _ Sure, scoring 16 of her game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter and grabbing 14 rebounds was impressive stuff. Throw in four assists and three steals and it's easy to see how Unadilla Valley senior Amanda Walling led her 12th-seeded squad to a 55-50 upset over fifth-seeded Harpursville in a Section Four Class C first-round game Wednesday. Stats aside, a play late in the fourth quarter may have best exemplified Walling's contributions to the Storm on this night. With UV leading, 51-47, Storm forward Elly Powers misfired on an 18-footer from just inside the key. The ball caromed left and appeared to be headed out of bounds, but the speedy Walling raced over and deflected the ball to a teammate in front of UV's bench. The Storm then called timeout with 36.4 seconds to play. "She can run all day," UV coach Keith Pylinski said of Walling, who made 4 of 6 shots from the field and went 6-for-7 from the foul line in the fourth period. "That looked like a senior who didn't want to see her season end." UV (15-6), which avenged an earlier loss to Harpursville (18-4), will play Candor in a C quarterfinal Saturday. Fourth-seeded Candor defeated Greene, 81-42, Wednesday. In this matchup of Harpursville's size versus UV's quickness, the Storm overcame foul trouble and five-point deficit in the fourth quarter. The turning point probably came with 6:03 left. Powers, UV's tallest player at 5-foot-8, was whistled for her fourth foul with 5:03 left in the third quarter and the Storm ahead, 30-27. When she re-entered with 6:03 to play, Harpursville held a 41-36 lead. "Elly's our big girl inside," Walling said. "When she picked up her fourth foul, that really hurt." Powers, who scored 14 points, immediately converted a putback to pull UV within 41-38. Walling tied the score with the second of her three three-pointers on a pull-up jumper in transition with 5:02 left. The Hornets took their last lead _ at 43-41 with 4:26 to go _ on an inside basket from 5-9 forward Kristen Komorowski (team-high 17 points). Powers was fouled on the ensuing possession and hit the front end of a one-and-one with 4:26 left. She missed the second attempt, but Walling slipped underneath, grabbed the rebound and made the putback, giving UV the lead for keeps at 44-43. On the Storm's next possession, Walling made diagonal pass to Powers for a fastbreak layup, and the lead was 46-43 with 3:57 left. About two minutes later, Walling dribbled behind a screen and hit a three-pointer from right of the circle for a 49-45 lead. "Amanda's our go-to player," said Pylinski, who watched Walling and Powers combine for all 22 of UV's fourth-quarter points. "Tonight, she remained poised and confident. She kept the kids under control. She's a team leader." Two free throws by Walling with 1:31 to play made it 51-45. Twenty seconds later, 5-11 Lindsay Kimmel, who came in averaging roughly 18 points, scored the last of her six points on a putback to bring Harpursville within 51-47. After Walling saved UV's possession with her play near the Storm's bench, Powers was fouled and hit 1 of 2 free throws with 35 seconds left for a five-point lead. The Hornets' Kristin Gilkeson answered with a three-pointer with 25.8 seconds left to make it a two-point game, but Harpursville had to foul. UV inbounded the ball to Walling, who drew a foul from Kimmel with 24.8 seconds to play. Walling made both free throws, the secured the victory by rebounding Danielle Drake's miss from close range with 10.9 seconds left. "This is a big boost for our confidence," Walling said. Added Powers: "They were seeded fifth and we were 12th and that was a big deal to us." UV's game-long, full-court pressure factored in heavily. The Storm used a 2-2-1 press that was so effective, turnover-plagued Harpursville attempted seven shots in the first quarter as UV took a 13-9 lead. "An up-and-down game is where we have to come from because they are quite a bit bigger than we are," Pylinski said. "We tried to take their size out of the equation." Added Walling: "We knew we had to run the court. We knew we had to make shots on the offensive end to set up our press. That's our advantage." UV 55, HARPURSVILLE 50
Section Four Class C First Round
12-UNADILLA VALLEY (15-6): Pietra Baio 0 1-4 1, Sabrina Corn 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Walbrecht 0 0-0 0, Sara Lazarus 4 1-2 10, Maren McCarthy 0 0-0 0, Jamie Parks 2 0-0 4, Heidi Button 0 0-0 0, Brittany Miller 0 0-0 0, Amanda Walling 7 7-9 24, Roxanne Hettig 0 0-0 0, Elly Powers 7 2-5 16. TOTALS: 20 10-20 55. 5-HARPURSVILLE (18-3): Kristen Komorowski 7 5-9 19, Kaitlyn Hamilton 2 3-4 9, Jeanine Lindaman 2 2-3 6, Kristin Gilkeson 3 1-2 9, Jamie DeNucci 0 0-0 0, Lindsay Kimmel 3 0-0 6, Danielle Drake 0 1-6 1, Brittany Rowe 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17 12-24 50. UV 13 13 7 22 _ 55 Harpursville 9 11 15 15 _ 50 Three-point field goals: UV 4 (Lazarus, Walling 3); H 4 (Hamilton 2, Gillickson 2).