DUKE CENTER — January may be only a few days old, but what happened on the court Wednesday may go a long way in determining things in the North Tier League girls race come February.
The Otto-Eldred Lady Terrors used a decisive fourth quarter run to pull away from Cameron County and pick up a critical 51-42 league win.
Cameron (6-3, 5-1) came into the game as the NTL’s last undefeated team, but it was the Terrors who did enough in the second half to close out the win on their home court.
“That’s a good team that is well-coached,” O-E coach Shawn Gray said. “It’s always great to beat a team like that. They came in here with a winning record, we knew we were going to get their best punch and I think our kids took it and gave a couple back.”
It was a back-and-forth game throughout, as the two teams traded leads for much of the first three quarters that saw neither team lead by more than four.
After trailing by two at the half, Otto-Eldred (6-2, 4-1) pulled ahead by three, 34-31, after the third. But in the fourth, the Terrors went red-hot at the free throw line and played some stellar defense to outscore Cameron County 17-11 in the final eight minutes.
Just what made the difference for the Terrors down the stretch?
“Our seniors, Gray said. “Right now they are really stepping up for us. It’s awesome to see because they haven’t really gotten a lot of opportunities in the past so that lack of experience sometimes shows. But to see them go out there and play that way in the fourth, that’s why they stayed out there. You could just see that was their moment.”
Two of those seniors (Autumn Smith and Haylee Frederick) led the Terrors in scoring. Frederick sank five free throws in the fourth quarter and had nine points total in that frame to finish with a game-high 16 points. Smith, meanwhile, poured in 15 and sank one of the Terrors’ two 3-pointers.
But it was what they did on the other end of the court that made the difference, according to Gray.
“(Those two) led us defensively as well,” he said. “They turned their defense into offense and that is something that we preach on the defensive end to be our staple and let that turn into our offense. I think Autumn and Hayley really took that to heart and did that for us tonight.”
Frederick had five steals in the game.
For Cameron County, the Lady Red Raiders have now lost consecutive games for the first time this season. Coach Dave Sullivan declined to comment after the game, other than to say that his team lacked confidence after last week’s loss at Union.
He also pointed to the statsheet, and highlighted the misses at the free-throw line. Cameron County had a tough night shooting at the charity stripe, going 13-of-24 and missing seven attempts in the fourth quarter.
With the result between Cam County and Otto, along with Port Allegany and Coudersport’s league wins on Wednesday, all four teams now sit atop the NTL with one loss.
And if the rest of the season is anything like how it’s begun, it should be a very competitive few weeks between some longtime rivals.
“I think it’s going to be like this for the whole year,” Gray said. “Those ones you get at home you have to win, and then just try to steal one or two on the road, which we didn’t do against Coudersport. Hopefully we can when we go down to Port and Emporium.”
“But it’s a really fun team that I get to coach this year … I’m happy to be a part of it.”
AT DUKE CENTER
Cameron County (42)
Alyvia McKimm 3 4-4 11, Kaelee Bresslin 3 4-11 10, Guisto 2 3-6 8, Smith 2 2-2 6, Hilfiger 2 0-1 4, Goodrow 1 0-0 3. Totals: 13 13-24 42
Otto-Eldred (51)
Haylee Frederick 5 6-7 16, Autumn Smith 6 2-5 15, Heller 3 0-1 6, Spinney 2 1-2 5, Raught 2 0-0 4, L. Cousins 1 0-0 3, Greeley 0 2-2 2. Totals: 19 11-17 51
Cam Co. 10 22 31 42
Otto-Eldred 9 20 34 51
Three-point goals: CC 3 (Goodrow, McKimm, Guisto), Otto 2 (Cousins, Smith); total fouls: CC 15, O-E 18; fouled out: none
JV: Otto won 27-24
