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Field freshman forward Camille Adelman grabbed a rebound and sank the game winning basket with less than 20 seconds remaining on Saturday to give the Falcons a 41-40 victory over Southeast.
BRIMFIELD TWP., Ohio – The girls basketball season may only be a week old, but the second half of Field’s 41-40 victory over Southeast featured a season’s worth of drama. There were five ties and four lead changes, the last of which didn’t come until there was less than 20 seconds on the clock.
In the last minute, Falcons senior center Emily Mortimer split a pair of free throws to cut the Pirate advantage to 40-39 with 44.1 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, Southeast turned the ball over on a travelling violation with 29.6 seconds left, giving Field freshman forward Camille Adelman enough time for some heroics.
The Falcons' initial attempt rattled around the rim and off where Adelman was waiting for the backside rebound, and her put-back was good with less than 20 seconds remaining.
“My coach told me to rebound and I hadn’t rebounded most of the game so I just was in the right spot and got the rebound,” Adelman said. “It was really nerve-wracking, but it was good.”
Following Adelman’s bucket, the Falcons defense didn’t allow Southeast to get a shot off after inbounding with just over 10 seconds left.
The fact that it came down to a last possession bucket for Field probably surprised a lof of Falcon faithful in attendance, after their team went on a 12-0 run covering parts of the first and second quarters to take a 14-6 lead. Field coach Craig Nettleton was not surprised.
“You know a Bob Dunn team is going to fight, fight, fight," Nettleton said. "I’ve got the utmost respect for any team coached by him. You know they are going to make everything tough and they did. I really am proud of how we kept fighting. We were mentally a lot tougher than we have been.”
While this was the two coaches' first time clashing in a girls basketball game, the two are quite familiar with each other after many years coaching against each other in boys hoops.
“Craig and I coached boys against each other for 13 years so I have a lot of respect for him,” Dunn said. “I know he’s working with some young kids and so are we, trying to get our programs back on track. So we are pretty similar.”
After the Falcons’ 12-0 run Southeast closed the half on an 8-4 run to cut the advantage to 18-14 at intermission. The Pirates continued their hot streak in the third quarter with a 9-2 run early in the third quarter to take a 26-24 lead, and Southeast worked that lead to 32-28 entering the final period.
“In the third quarter we did a great job getting the ball into the post, and Shayna White did a great job converting those opportunities,” Dunn said. “In the fourth quarter we didn’t get the ball inside and we just missed a lot of open shots.
“I was very happy with our execution, we just couldn’t get a shot to go in. If any of those fall in you are talking to the winning team.”
White, a junior forward, had six of her game-high 16 points in the third quarter and four more in the fourth quarter, including the Pirates' final bucket with less than a minute remaining.
The Falcons were led by Mortimer, who scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds.
“She’s just tough. She’s physically tough. Offensively, she knows what to do inside, but defensively she makes it tough as well,” Nettleton said. “She makes us so much better.”
Nettleton said that Mortimer is still working back from a foot injury and it was a tense moment when she rolled her ankle with about a minute-and-a-half left in the third quarter, but Mortimer was back on the court by the end of the period.
In other girls basketball games involving Portage Trail Conference teams…
CVCA 68, MOGADORE 31. At Cuyahoga Falls, senior forward Cassie Wilson scored 17 points to lead the Royals over the Wildcats.
LeAunna Mallard scored 11 for CVCA, while Sophomore Ashley Barker led Mogadore with 10 points.
Click HERE for more on this game.
MAGNIFICAT 67, NORTON 59. At Norton, Alyssa Kraus came back from an injury to lead the Panthers (0-2) with 21 points in the losing effort.
Norton trailed by 12 at the half and cut the Magnificat lead to four with three minutes to play but could get no closer.
Cara Cook scored 13, and Jaclyn Fortner scored 12 for Norton. Fortner led the Panthers with seven rebounds.
Magnificat was led by seniors Megan Barilla (18 points) and Steph Haas (17 points).
