DUKE CENTER — Last Thursday, the Otto-Eldred boys had a seven-game winning streak abruptly snapped in a 76-33 defeat to Coudersport.
The team’s emotions at the end of last night’s game couldn’t have been more different.
Jordan Sherwood hit an underhand shot with eight seconds left to give the Terrors a dramatic 50-48 victory over Cameron County on Monday night in North Tier League action.
The win breaks Cameron County’s own seven-game winning streak and marks just the second league loss for the Red Raiders this year (15-3 overall, 12-2 NTL).
It was exactly the kind of effort O-E head coach Dan Dalton wanted to see coming off of a tough loss.
“We knew Coudy was going to be a tough game,” he said. “We were just trying to go over there and compete. We played defensively more man tonight than we did down there and I think we’ve been playing a lot better man-to-man defense and I think that was a key for tonight.”
The 3-point shot was a point of emphasis for both teams at the game’s outset, with both sides taking plenty of shots from long-range.
The Terrors were able to find an early groove on offense through solid passing, spreading the wealth around and keeping the visitors guessing.
A Marcus Brown 3-pointer in the final seconds gave the Red Raiders a 16-14 lead after one. Brown would be lethal from distance all night long, hitting five treys en route to a game-high 17 points.
In the second quarter, Brown’s teammate Adam Shaffer was the focal point of Cameron County’s attack. Shaffer consistently drove hard to the hoop, drawing fouls even if he wasn’t always making baskets. Shaffer would finish with 15 points in the game.
The Red Raiders were looking to push the tempo throughout the game, and looked the more comfortable side when the action sped up.
However, Cameron County’s normally good shooting went cold towards the end of the half, allowing the Terrors to tie things at 27-27 going into halftime.
A sloppy third quarter didn’t see either side play particularly well on offense, with Cameron County taking a 38-35 lead into the final eight minutes.
The Terrors threatened to take the lead on several occasions, but the Red Raiders hit some clutch 3s down the stretch.
“The kids can shoot,” Dalton said of the opposition. “Give ‘em credit. Cameron County kids can shoot the basketball.”
Cameron County held a 45-44 lead with under two minutes to go, leading to as tense and well-fought a final stretch as you’ll see.
Otto’s Sawyer Drummond gave his team the lead with a layup off of an offensive rebound, but that was answered immediately by a Shaffer 3-pointer.
After an O-E free throw cut the deficit to one, the Terrors — whose defense stiffened up in the late going — forced a turnover to regain the ball with under a minute left.
“I told them we could be aggressive,” Dalton said. “We only had two fouls with about two and a half minutes left and I knew we had to be more aggressive in case it did come down to a foul shooting contest at the end. So I think that helped us a little bit defensively.”
With 25 seconds left, Trey Dalton was fouled, and he made the front end of a one-and-one to tie the game at 48-48. After missing the second shot, the ball ricocheted several times until finding its way back into the Terrors’ hands.
Coming out of a timeout with 18 seconds left, the Terrors worked the ball around until it wound up in Sherwood’s hands. The senior looked trapped for a moment, until he spun around and lobbed up an underhand shot that found the bottom of the net. Sherwood also drew a foul for good measure.
“I was trying to get Sawyer the ball inside and it just didn’t work out for us,” Dalton said of the final possession.
“I was just getting ready to call another timeout to set something back up again,” he added with a smile. “(Jordan’s) a basketball player. That’s what we ask him to do sometimes. He made a basketball play and it paid off for us.”
The Red Raiders had one last chance, but a long 3-pointer never threatened the rim, and the Terrors held on for the ‘W’.
While Sherwood (who finished with five points and eight rebounds) was the hero, the Terrors got a well-rounded effort from the entire lineup. Drummond notched a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Dalton (11 points) and Dylan Close (10 points, seven rebounds, four steals) also had nice games.
“We’re a pretty balanced team,” coach Dalton said. “It’s been nice to see a couple of these kids step up the last five, six weeks. It’s been a pretty balanced scoring attack for us and that’s when we’re most successful.”
The Terrors (12-6 overall, 10-5 NTL) will look to avoid a letdown when they visit Oswayo Valley on Wednesday.
“I think the way we’re playing right now they’re wanting it more and more,” Dalton said of his team. “Hopefully we don’t have one of those letdowns.”
Cameron County, meanwhile, will host Smethport on Wednesday.
AT DUKE CENTER
Cameron County (48)
D. Brown 1 0-0 3, Marcus Brown 6 0-0 17, Adam Shaffer 3 7-10 15, Beldin 3 0-0 8, T. Bauer 1 1-2 3, B. Bauer 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 8-12 48
Otto-Eldred (50)
Sawyer Drummond 5 1-1 11, Ch. Sebastian 1 0-2 2, Sheeler 3 1-2 7, Dylan Close 4 0-0 10, Co. Sebastian 2 0-0 4, Trey Dalton 3 4-5 11, Sherwood 2 0-1 5. Totals: 20 6-11 50
CC 16 27 38 48
O-E 14 27 35 50
Three-point goals: CC 10 (D. Brown 1, M. Brown 5, Shaffer 2, Beldin 2), O-E 4 (Close 2, Dalton 1, Sherwood 1); Total fouls: CC 11, O-E 11; fouled out: none
JV: Cameron County won 53-28
