COUDERSPORT — With Coudersport down four and its back against the wall at halftime against Otto-Eldred, all that was guaranteed was one more half of basketball.
The Lady Falcons rose to the occasion, turned up their intensity and outscored the Lady Terrors, 25-8, in the second half en route to a 41-28 win and their second straight District 9 Class A title and fourth district championship in the last five years on Tuesday night.
The win sends Coudy to Saturday’s state quarterfinals where it’ll host District 6 champion Bishop Guilfoyle. The Lady Falcons find themselves in the same position as last season before the COVID-19 pandemic ended the PIAA state tournament before it was finished.
“I’m well pleased, what can you say? (We) got to take tonight and enjoy it, get back to work tomorrow (and) hopefully prevail Saturday,” Coudy coach Bob Tingley said. “Under difficult circumstances, they stayed focused. They got here and put their name (on the banners in the gym) with teams that have come in the past and I’m very proud of them for that.”
Coudy’s talent and depth were on display during its victory with star player Sarah Chambers scoring just four points on no field goals.
Instead, it was Emma Chambers who would help get the Lady Falcons (20-1) going offensively, tallying 15 points, including two threes.
“That’s very important because everyone knows Sarah and they’re going to key on her,” Tingley said. “She drives the ball, there’s going to be three people there.”
The first of those treys was Coudy’s first bucket of the night and back-and-forth action led to an 11-all tie after the first quarter.
O-E went on to dominate the second quarter by forcing turnovers and creating opportunities in the paint and capitalizing. The Lady Terrors (16-5) held Coudy scoreless for more than half of the remaining quarter, using a 7-0 run to take a 20-16 halftime lead.
“We played a heck of a first half,” O-E coach Shawn Gray said. “We switched to a man (defense). I don’t know if they were necessarily prepared for a man-to-man just because we’ve played our 1-3-1 (zone) for most of the year.”
But the second half was contrary to the first for both teams.
Coudy played as champions play and stepped up its intensity, using traps to force turnovers which led to baskets in transition.
Rosalyn Page, who led Coudy with a game-high 16 points, scored eight of those points during the third quarter, while Emma Chambers chipped in five. The pair combined for the team’s 13 third-quarter points, while O-E mustered just four.
“We kind of took them out of their offense. We did a little bit of trapping, not real well because we didn’t practice it, but we did a little trapping,” Tingley said. “They’re a good shooting team … I thought Ros was a big factor on the boards. She was tough. They got big girls and she battled with them in there.”
Overall, Page finished with a double-double, bringing down 11 rebounds to go along with 16 points.
With Coudy taking a 29-24 advantage into the fourth, O-E’s cold streak on the offensive end continued. After Bri Heller’s basket that got O-E to within three points to start off the fourth, the Lady Falcons sealed the championship win with a 12-2 run.
Katie Sheeler led O-E with a team-high nine points, while Bri Heller recorded eight and Reilly Raught tallied seven.
“I can’t say enough good things about Coach Tingley and how he’s still doing it,” Gray said. “They were playing good defense in the first half and then they just cranked it up in the second and really put some pressure on us. (The pressure) made us shoot a little bit quicker than we wanted to.”
The loss on Tuesday ends a special season for O-E, one that saw the Lady Terrors reach the district title game for just the second time in program history. The first was back in 2017.
This year’s team has five seniors in Reilly Raught, Morgan Dalton, Emmalee Sheeler, Kayley Heller and Rosa Rounsville, whom Gray is thankful for having, and knows to have bright futures ahead.
“They’re the best of the best. They set a standard for our school and our community as to what you should strive to be and the good type of person you should be in life,” Gray said. “There’s nothing better than that as a coach when you know you got five kids graduating that are going to impact the world in positive ways.”
Coudy, meanwhile, will have three days to prepare for Saturday’s quarterfinals. Tingley said one of the focuses will be limiting turnovers on offense.
For the second year in a row, the Lady Falcons are in the Elite Eight and based on how they’ve played, it’s certain that they’ll give it all they have with a trip to the state final four on the line after not being able to finish the PIAA Tournament last year.
“They all get tougher, but that’s why we’re here,” Tingley said of the games moving forward. “We’ve been in the Final Four one other time and I think these girls are capable, I really do.”
AT COUDERSPORT
Otto-Eldred (28)
K. Sheeler 2 5-6 9, B. Heller 4 0-0 8, Raught 3 1-2 7, Dalton 1 0-0 2, K. Heller 1 0-0 2. Totals: 11 6-8 28
Coudersport (41)
Rosalyn Page 5 5-10 16, Emma Chambers 5 3-4 15, S. Chambers 0 4-6 4, Frame 1 1-3 4, Porterfield 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 13-23 41
Otto-Eldred 11 20 24 28
Coudersport 11 16 29 41
Three-point goals: O-E (None), Coudy 4 (E. Chambers 2, Frame, Page); Total fouls: O-E 15, Coudy 15; fouled out: None
