By Rob Centorani
Staff Writer
BINGHAMTON _ If you enjoyed the offense displayed Friday night at the Broome County Arena, you’re probably also a fan of fingernails on chalkboards and Stephen King novels.
But as the saying goes in golf, “They don’t ask how, just how many.”
Oneonta High’s top-seeded girls scored just enough to eke out a 30-27 overtime victory over No. 3 Lansing and earn the program’s third straight sectional title.
“We had a hard time running (our offense) against their man-to-man, but our defense always saves us,” said senior guard Katie Bredin, who swished a three-pointer from the top of the key with 1 minute, 25 seconds left in overtime to give the Yellowjackets the lead for good, at 27-26.
This second straight Class B triumph _ they won the Class A crown in 2008 _ could best be described as bizarre.
“It’s the most unusual game I’ve ever been involved with in 27 years of coaching,” said Lansing coach Stu Dean, whose team lost to OHS in the sectional final for the second straight season. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Again, I’ll say good defense, but we were inept. That’s the best way to put it on offense. It didn’t look like we had played much basketball before, if this was your first opportunity to watch us.”
Added OHS coach Bob Zeh: “It was a defensive struggle. They played great man-to-man defense. I know they scouted the heck out of us. They took away everything we wanted to do on offense.”
Next for the 18-3 Yellowjackets is a Class B state quarterfinal at 1 p.m. March 13 against the Section Three champion. South Jefferson and Jordan Elbridge will play for the sectional title Saturday. Zeh said early indications are the game will be played at Cortland State, but he also said he’s going to lobby hard to get it in the Oneonta area.
Perhaps the statistic that underscores the surreal nature of this final is that over 36 minutes of play, the Yellowjackets attempted 26 shots. It was one empty possession after another that ended in various ways. There were poor passes and dropped passes, traveling and 30-second shot-clock violations, and failures to inbound the ball and held-ball situations.
“They obviously knew a lot about us because they were right up on us,” said OHS junior Erin Wolstenholme, who scored a team-high 10 points.
What this one lacked in offensive proficiency, it almost made up for in drama. The largest lead for either side was four points and there were nine lead changes after halftime.
Wolstenholme, slightly hobbled after taking a knee from Lansing’s MC Barrett in the right thigh with 5:12 left in the second quarter, rattled in a wing jumper with four seconds left in the third quarter to give the Jackets a 17-16 lead.
“It’s a little sore right now, but all of this is healing it up pretty good,” Wolstenholme said of her injury, which briefly forced her out of the game.
The Bobcats (20-1) took the lead back on a wing jumper by Barrett (game-high 11 points) with 5:35 left.
Yellowjackets leading scorer Sienna Wisse received a kickout pass from Val Ridgway and hit a three-pointer from right of the key to give the lead back to OHS with 2:47 left in regulation. Thirty seconds later, Lansing’s Nina Lindberg sent a high-arching 20-footer from right of the key that banked in as the Bobcats regained the lead, at 21-20.
Then Bredin made one of the best passes of the night. She had the ball on the right wing as 6-foot teammate Ridgway posted up on the right block. As had been the case most of the night, Lansing had one girl in front and one behind Ridgway. Bredin faked as if she was going to force a pass inside to Ridgway but instead threw a cross-court pass to a cutting Wolstenholme for a layup that made it 22-21 with 1:17 to play.
Next came the basket that nearly ended OHS’ sectional winning streak at eight games. The Yellowjackets had two chances to secure a loose ball in the paint but couldn’t control it. The ball bounced to Barrett, who hit an open layup with 50 seconds left as Lansing regained the lead, at 23-22.
All seemed lost for OHS when Wisse lost possession in the midst of a double team in the left corner with 23.7 seconds to play. The Jackets had four fouls to give before Lansing was in the 1-and-1 bonus situation.
After giving up one foul, Barrett inbounded to a teammate, who threw it right back to Barrett. But Barrett had not established herself on the court, giving the ball back to OHS with 20.1 seconds left.
Eventually, the Jackets got the ball to Wolstenholme on the right side. She drove the baseline and coaxed in a 5-footer that crept over the rim with 10 seconds to go.
“I wasn’t planning on making that,” Wolstenholme said of the tough-angle shot. “I faked and she went for it and I dribbled right inside. My heart was pounding. I was ecstatic. I was just so happy.”
The Jackets had fouls to give, but Jocelyn Ford dribbled down the middle of the court and was eventually fouled 10 feet from the basket by Wolstenholme with three seconds left.
Ford, the Bobcats’ leading scorer who had 28 points in a 55-49 win over Chenango Valley on Wednesday, missed the first attempt before making the second to force overtime.
Thirty seconds into overtime, Ford made her lone field goal of the night _ a layup that gave Lansing its last lead, at 26-24.
That set up Bredin, who came into Friday averaging 3.5 points. She had a wide-open look from the key after receiving a pass from Wolstenholme and swished it.
“I wanted to hug her,” Wolstenholme said of Bredin, who finished with six points. “I was so happy she made that. I have so much confidence in her.”
Added Bredin: “I’m not really used to (hitting big shots), but I guess someone had to step up.”
Zeh said it reminded him of last season’s Southern Tier Athletic Conference final, when he implored Wisse not to take a three-pointer late in the fourth quarter. She took it anyway and hit it to help the Yellowjackets to a 42-34 win over Seton Catholic Central.
“I went, ‘No, no, no, yes!’”
Ford got good looks on Lansing’s next two possessions but couldn’t convert. First, she missed a jumper from the right elbow with 1:05 left. Then, she had an open look after receiving a pass on the right block but came up short on the layup with 41 seconds to go.
Ridgway, huge on the defensive glass all night, grabbed the rebound, but a Lansing player tried to tie her up. Ridgway lost her balance and went to the floor. She looked for an outlet, but just as a Lansing player was closing in, OHS’ Lesley Harlem alertly called timeout with 39.3 seconds left.
Bredin received the ensuing inbounds pass and was fouled. She hit 1 of 2 free throws to make it 28-26 with 36.2 seconds left.
Barrett was fouled after grabbing an offensive rebound. She missed the first free throw and hit the second with 14 seconds to go.
Wisse then hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with 11.2 seconds to cap an eight-point night and give the Jackets a 30-27 lead.
The Bobcats’ last chance ended when Ford tried to pass inside with time running down. The ball was deflected and Lansing never got off a potential tying three-pointer.
“I thought we did a great job defensively,” Zeh said of an OHS defense that harassed Lansing into a 10-for-39 shooting night. “When things don’t go your way offensively, you can still play great defense.”
On winning three straight sectional titles to tie the program record set by the 1997-99 OHS teams, which won two state championships, Wolstenholme said: “It’s incredible to be on such a talented team for the last three years. You couldn’t ask for better teams than the ones we’ve had for the last three years. Last year, we lost Madie (Harlem) and Meredith (Ridgway) and they contributed a lot. We just tried to fill in the big shoes they left. It’s working out pretty well.”
Last year, all-state selections Madie Harlem and Meredith Ridgway led the Jackets to a 25-1 season that ended with a 39-35 loss to Nanuet in the Class B state final.
“The teams we meet (in the state playoffs) are going to be five times harder than what we’ve been playing the whole year,” Wolstenholme said.
Oneonta 30, Lansing 27, OT
SECTION FOUR CLASS B
Championship at Broome County Arena
3-LANSING (20-1): Nina Lindberg 2-3 0-0 5, Shanna Shaff 0-2 0-0 0, Ellyn Grant-Keane 1-5 2-2 4, Stephanie Gonyea 2-7 0-0 4, MC Barrett 4-9 3-6 11, Jocelyn Ford 1-12 1-4 3, Carlene Fields 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 10-39 6-12 27.
1-ONEONTA (18-3): Katie Bredin 1-3 3-4 6, Dani Nicosia 0-0 0-0 0, Jenn Dilello 0-0 0-0 0, Lesley Harlem 0-1 0-0 0, Erin Wolstenholme 5-8 0-0 10, Val Ridgway 3-4 0-2 0, Sienna Wisse 2-10 3-5 8. TOTALS: 11-26 6-11 30.
Lansing&nb; sp; 7 7 2 8 3 _ 27
Oneonta &nbs; p; 8 4 5 7 6 _ 30
Three-point field goals: L 1 (Lindberg); O 2 (Bredin, Wisse).
Rob Centorani can be reached at rcentorani@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 209.
