02/23/05
Eagles run away with semifinal victory, 49-26
HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS BASKETBALL — SECTION FOUR CLASS D SEMIFINAL
By P.J. Harmer
Staff Writer
DELHI — Af
| | | Star photo by Julie Lewis
Davenport’s Brittany Westcott attempts to score against Downsville’s Mary Wall, right, in the first quarter of Tuesday’s Section Four Class D semifinal at Delhi Tech. The play ended with Downsville’s Linnea Mattson, left, grabbing the rebound. The Eagles outscored Davenport, 25-2, over the last 11 minutes, 59 seconds for a 49-26 victory. |
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ter a nearly three-quarter nap, the Downsville girls basketball team woke up Tuesday in a Section Four Class D semifinal.
The top-seeded Eagles (20-2) overcame a sloppy first half en route to a 49-26 victory over No. 4 Davenport at Delhi Tech.
"The first half was ugly," first-year Downsville coach Christine Baldauf said. "We stepped up defensively in the fourth. Offensively, we worked the ball around a little more."
Davenport’s Courtney Adam tied the score at 24 on a three-pointer with 3 minutes, 59 seconds left to play in the third qu[an error occurred while processing this directive]arter. Downsville answered by holding Davenport without a field goal the rest of the game — a span of 11:59.
The Eagles capitalized on turnovers using transition baskets and crisp passing to get through Davenport’s defense. After Adams’ basket, Downsville ended the game on a 25-2 run.
"Everyone was tired the whole game but we woke up and everyone decided to play," said Downsville’s Courtney Hoyt, who finished with 14 points. "Our passing increased so much and that saved us. We were trying to rush in the first half. When we passed the ball, we got the easy shots."
Downsville earned a trip to the Section Four Class D championship at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Broome County Arena. The Eagles (21-2) will face second-seeded South Kortright (19-3) for the fourth time this season.
Downsville leads the season series, 2-1. The Rams beat No. 3 Milford in double-overtime, 62-57, Tuesday.
Downsville, which beat Davenport, 48-41, in the Delaware League championship Feb. 11, started its run with a defensive stand.
Hoyt’s three-point play with 2:14 left in the third quarter gave the Eagles the lead for good. Mary Wall followed with a basket with 1:54 to play, and Alexa Henderson hit 1 of 2 free throws with 1.6 seconds left for a 30-24 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Henderson and Wall scored the first two baskets of the fourth, making it 34-24.
"The third quarter is usually our quarter, but I don’t know what was wrong," said Downsville’s Linnea Mattson, who finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. "We came out strong in the fourth. We slowed down our offense and ran our plays."
Davenport (17-6) didn’t react well to Downsville’s increased pressure on defense and was forced to attempt more outside shots. The only points the Wildcats scored in the fourth quarter came on two free throws from Kaci Hood with 3:55 to play.
"We had too many turnovers," Davenport coach Ray Preston said. "We turned it over numerous times underneath. We certainly didn’t make much in the fourth. Our shooting was poor. We didn’t get enough inside looks."
The Wildcats trailed by as many as 10 in the first half, falling behind, 22-12, with 2:17 left in the second quarter. Davenport finished the half on a 5-0 spurt to cut the deficit to 22-17.
Adam scored the first three points of the second half — on a breakaway layup and 1 of 2 free throws — and Hood hit a free throw to cut it to 22-21. Hoyt’s basket made it 24-21 before Adam hit the tying three-pointer.
"I don’t know if we wore them down or if we started thinking a little more," Baldauf said. "We’ve been working on the inside and we had some good ball movement. If we work it around well, it loosens up the zone."
Davenport was without starter Renee Butts and Leila Kugler. Preston had no comment on why they were missing.
Henderson finished with 14 points for Downsville. Adam and Hood had nine points apiece for Davenport.
DOWNSVILLE 49, DAVENPORT 26
1-DOWNSVILLE (21-2): Charity Emerich 0 0-0 0, Kayla Kauffman 1 0-2 2, Linnea Mattson 4 1-1 9, Alexa Henderson 4 5-8 14, Mary Wall 4 2-4 10, Courtney Hoyt 5 4-8 14, Crystal D’Addezio 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 18 12-23 49.
Three-point field goals: Davenport 3 (Adam 2, Westcott); Downsville 1 (Henderson).
