Hardwood Heroes
Nelsonville-York Lady Buckeyes take down River Valley in pivotal win.
By: Vernon Eguakun
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Nelsonville Ohio, (WOUB) – The Nelsonville-York Lady Buckeyes defeated the River Valley Raiders 60-51 on Senior night.
Both teams started out the game playing hard defense and not giving the other open shots, but the Raiders were able to jump out to an 11-9 first quarter lead.
In the 2nd quarter both teams played at a higher tempo and were trading shots. River Valley found a lot of success from the 3-point line, contributing to their scoring. The Buckeyes crashed the glass and secured rebounds, giving them extra possessions. The Raiders scored with just three seconds remaining in the quarter to give them a 25-24 lead at the half.
The third quarter saw both teams playing tough defense as shots weren’t easy to find. River Valley were productive from the free throw line as they were able to draw fouls in the paint. Nelsonville-York continued to drive to the basket and rely on rebounding and second chance points to score. The Buckeyes were down 34-30 with a minute and thirty-one seconds remaining and closed out with a small 5-0 run giving them a 35-34 lead at the end of the third.
The fourth quarter saw the Raiders with a six-point lead with two minutes left, but Nelsonville-York cut the lead down by scoring fast and forcing turnovers on the defensive end. Down 49-48 with six seconds left, Senior Power Forward Emma Fields was fouled on a fast break. She hit 1 of 2 free throws making the final score 49-49, sending the game into overtime.
In overtime the Buckeyes took over on an 11-2 run sticking to the same game plan from earlier focusing on rebounding and great defense giving them the 60-51 victory and a share of the TVC-Ohio title.
Coach Truax explained how this win felt.
“It feels awesome with this group of kids. The hard work they put in is a credit to them it took a while for everyone to buy into the system and their seeing what it takes.”
The Buckeyes (16-5) will play Meigs on Thursday for a chance to clinch the TVC-Ohio conference title outright while River Valley will look to bounce back Thursday at home against Alexander.