A scrappy, much improved and determined Tri-Valley Lady Bears basketball team almost pulled off the upset of the year last week before losing in the final 10 seconds of the game against league leading S.S. Seward 52-50.
Tri-Valley coach Jason Closs in post game remarks noted "it's the best 32-minutes of basketball we have played all season."
Going into this OCIAA Division V game Tri-Valley remembered well the 35-point loss they suffered on December 21 at Seward who strode into Grahamsville last week sporting a 17-1 record and 4-0 in league play.
What a team does after a devastating loss like the December 21 game is they ether go into the tank completely or goes to work learning what their weak spots are and correcting them through hard work and determination.
Coach Closs during the season has given his team hard lessons as he pushed his team up against tough opponents like Middletown, Saugerties, Burke Catholic and Eldred "because this is where they learn and improve" Closs has said throughout this season.
If the Spartans were looking for another easy win this game proved that there is always another side of the coin.
Tri-Valley forward Eliz Hannold opened the scoring for both teams early in the first quarter but Seward's Annamarie Chiappone and Erika Straub poured in two trays each giving Seward a 13-9 advantage in the first eight minutes of play.
Down by four Tri-Valley upped their momentum in the second quarter and outscored Seward 11-8 off four points by point guard Jackie Musa, two by Hannold., a tray by Morgan Shamro and a two-pointer by Kacie Allison.
Seward in taking a one-point 21-20 lead into the third quarter of play showed concern with facial expressions and verbal questioning of referee decisions but that didn't stop their scoring ace Annamarie Chiappone from swishing the nets with 14 points off of two three-pointers and four 2's to outscore the Bears 18-12.
Morgan Shamro led Tri-Valley's third quarter scoring with a tray and three foul shots followed by Hannold with four and Musa wth two.
The third quarter of play saw the score seesaw back and fourth with Tri-Valley taking a 22-21 lead and Seward coming right back to lead 23-22. At the 5:17 mark the Bears upped their lead to 27-23 but then Chiappone got the hot hand with a couple of trays and 2's which led to a seven point 39-32 Spartan lead entering the fourth quarter.
Although outscored 18-12 in the third quarter Tri-Valley put the pedal to the metal outscoring Seward 18-13 in the fourth quarter off the outstanding guard play of Musa with six points, Hannold with seven points, two foul shots by Samantha Raymond and a tray by Shamro.
Hannold provided one of the exciting shots in the whole game for the Bears at the 26.5 mark of the fourth quarter sinking a corner-tray shot which pushed a 49-47 Spartan lead to a 50-49 Tri-Valley lead with second remaining.
That lead held up until Chiappone got the ball at the 13.2 mark and drilled a three-pointer giving the Spartans the 52-50 victory.
The win game Seward coach Joe Dimattina his 200th career victory.
"I know they are a good team and they have a good coach," Dimattina noted "and we beat them by 35 at our place so this is a different story."
"They had us frazzled the whole game and we were pretty lucky we got that last three point shot in," Dimattina said. "Even with our seven point lead they hit some clutch shots," Coach Dimattina added.
Tri-Valley coach Closs in postgame remarks said, "we played them man to man the whole game and this made a big difference."
"They are a good team but our energy was good, we scrapped and we didn't waiver and all this sets the table for future success," Closs said.
Although not specifically noting what success that could be it is very evident that Tri-Valley will enter the sectionals a much better team then what they started the season with.
Chiappone led both teams in scoring with 30 points off of six trays five 2's and two foul shots. Straub added 10.
Hannold led Tri-Valley with 17 followed by Musa and Shamro with 12 each. Freshman Samantha Raymond showed good rebounding skills throughout the game.
Seward committed 24 turnovers to Tri-Valley's 19.
With the win Seward's record went to 18-1 and 5-0 in league play. Tri-Valley is 9-8 and 3-2 in league play.
Tri-Valley plays their final league game tomorrow night, February 17 against Chester. Seniors will be honored in this game.
Tri-Valley leading scorer with 17 points Liz Hannold (20) shoots over Sewards Erin Sgombick (24) in the Bears two-point loss 52-50 last week at Grahamsville.
Tri-Valley point guard Jackie Musa (10) dribbles past Sewards Mikaila Joseph (15) and Emi Knecht in the Spartans 2-point 52-50 win last week at Grahamsville.
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS FROM THIS BIG GAME
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