By E. Shawn Aylsworth
Managing Editor
MIDDLETOWN – In a wacky game of back-and-forth furious physicality Feb. 12, Northeastern advanced to the semifinals of the Class 2A Shenandoah Sectional with an exhausting 48-39 opening-round victory over host Shenandoah.
The opening half was just downright ****, but the intensity never wavered as both teams fought like crazy to keep their postseason dreams alive for one more day. ****, of course, being an understatement. Witness:
• Shenandoah committed 10 turnovers and scored just two points in the first quarter, missing all five of its field goal attempts but going 2 of 2 from the free throw line (more on that later).
• Northeastern (14-6) didn’t fare much better in turning the ball over seven times in the opening eight minutes, but the Knights did score from the floor (4-of-11 shooting) en route to a 9-2 lead after one.
• Six more second-quarter turnovers by the Raiders gave them a whopping 16 at halftime – combined with 3-of-20 shooting in the first half, it was nothing short of a miracle that Shenandoah trailed only 19-10 at intermission (it was 19-5 at one point).
• That’s because Northeastern also turned it over six times in the second stanza, but the Knights’ 4-of-10 effort from the field in Q2 put them light years ahead of Shenandoah (38 percent to 12 percent), which finished the half perfect at the stripe after hitting its only second-period freebie.
Ruh-roh alert!! Rick Penn, Shenandoah’s athletic director, told 14th-year coach Todd Salkoski at halftime that if the Raiders could get to 40 points by the end of the game, they should win. Talk about your close calls …
Back-to-back buckets by 5’10” junior forward Briana Jett – including a three-point play on the latter – allowed Northeastern to double the score at 26-13 just under three minutes into the third period.
But the away-jerseyed home team finally began cutting down on the boo-boos just as Northeastern’s miscue rate escalated (13 turnovers in the third quarter), and baskets on three of four Shenandoah possessions cut the Raiders’ deficit to a half dozen at 26-20 just two minutes later. That was also about the time that Northeastern starting freshman forward Hannah Adams was knocked out of the game with a severe ankle injury.
Compounding that setback was the fact that the Knights from Fountain City picked up their seventh foul of the second half with 1:08 still to go in the third quarter, sending Shenandoah (10-10) to the stripe for the one-and-bonus – the magic elixir for a team seeking serious comeback.
And that figured to be a gravy train for Shenandoah, the last team not named Heritage Christian to win a 2A state title. (The Raiders preceded Heritage’s historic four-year run by capturing the 2005 championship; Shenandoah, a state runner-up in both 2001 and 2002, also was the 2A champion in 2003.)
But a funny thing happened on the way to a happy ending for the Raiders, who nailed their first two freebies of the second half to start the game off 5 for 5 from the line: Shenandoah started missing from 15 feet out.
Even though the Raiders were able to close the gap to 27-24 at the end of three – then exploded with a 10-0 start to the fourth that capped a nearly incomprehensible 21-1 run resulting in a 34-27 lead – the free throws were not going down with regularity. A bizarre play that occurred with 5:39 left on the clock served notice.
As senior guard Leighann Pittsford was canning a 3-pointer from the right corner, junior Rachel Harless was fouled away from the ball, sending her to the line for two free throws (Shenandoah reached the double bonus just 16 seconds into the final stanza). But a freakish five-point play never materialized as Harless hit just one of the two.
That was the opening Northeastern needed. Freshman guard Kelsey Whirely drained a three from the right corner – the Knights’ first basket in nearly eight minutes – and the Knights reached the bonus themselves with 4:51 remaining.
And while the Knights fared only slightly better than Shenandoah from the stripe down the stretch – 7 of 12 compared with 8 of 18 – Northeastern at least was able to dent the scoreboard after the 3:39 mark. That’s when senior forward Emily Eller’s putback gave the Raiders a 39-37 lead.
It would be their last points of the game, and one shy of Penn’s prophetic proclamation.
Five-eleven senior Caitlin Burroughs buried a 3-pointer with just over three minutes to go to give Northeastern the lead back for good at 40-39. Free throws and a pair of timely layups in the last 1:15 by Jett, who had a double-double with game highs of 17 points and 13 rebounds, did the rest as the Knights finished on a 21-5 run to prevail, 48-39.
Game 1: Hagerstown 42, Cambridge City Lincoln 33
Class 2A 14th-ranked Hagerstown (18-3) rode 5’11″ forward Katelyn Lakes to a nine-point win over Cambridge City Lincoln (6-15) in the sectional’s opening contest. The senior had 19 points for coach Chris Oliger’s Tigers, who will face Northeastern in a 6 o’clock semifinal Monday evening.
42. Shenandoah Sectional
Game 1 – 2A #14 Hagerstown 42, Cambridge City Lincoln 33
Game 2 – Northeastern 48, Shenandoah 39
Game 3 – Centerville vs. Eastern Hancock. PPD SAT 6p
Game 4 – Knightstown vs. Union County. PPD SAT to follow
Game 5 – 2A #14 Hagerstown vs. Northeastern. PPD MON 6p
Game 6 – Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4. PPD MON to follow
Championship – Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6. PPD TUE 7:30p
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