Cutthroats throw caution
to the wind
Beat Shoshone for the
first time
55-54, nip Richfield 34-33
By JEFF
CORDES
Express Staff Writer
Watching a
nine-point lead vanish in the final three minutes of a tight girls’ basketball
game is enough to frustrate a fiery coach like seventh-year mentor Ryan
Waterfield of The Community School.
The host
Cutthroats, having jumped to a surprising 9-0 lead over the once-beaten and
highly-favored Shoshone Indians, had answered every challenge and protected the
lead deep into the fourth quarter.
Kristin Hickey
hit the game-winning shot from about this same spot in last Tuesday’s
34-33 Cutthroat home win over Richfield. Express photo by David N. Seelig
Shoshone,
trailing 54-45 with less than three minutes left, made a couple of putbacks, two
free throws and an incredible three-point bank for a 54-54 tie.
It seemed
inevitable that perennial Northside Conference power Shoshone, never beaten by
the Cutthroats, would maintain its mastery.
Waterfield called
several time outs during the meltdown. She tried to convey the right message
that would cut through the doubts and worries.
She said,
"Whenever the girls seemed to lose confidence, I would call time out. Once
I asked them—Why play cautious now? We were playing real well, with a lot of
maturity. The girls really wanted to win."
The message got
through.
And win they did,
when senior Erika Connelly made the first of two free throws with 13 seconds
left and sophomore Jackie Goddard pulled down the biggest rebound of the night
on Shoshone’s last gasp, a long miss.
The Community
School, playing only five girls the entire game, never trailed and upset
Shoshone 55-54 Friday at the Fish Tank. Connelly (9.2 ppg) finished with a
season-high 16 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists.
It was a total
team effort.
Kristin Hickey
(8.2 ppg) added a season-high 14 points and 9 rebounds, Pauli Ochi 10 points, 4
boards and 5 steals, Goddard 9 points and 8 rebounds, and Jenny Rutherford 6
points, 4 steals and 4 huge assists.
The first-ever
Cutthroat win over Shoshone also extended their winning streak to three games,
all in league, which gave Waterfield’s team one more league win than all last
season.
Jackie Goddard
takes a Pauli Ochi outlet pass and hits a fast break basket giving the
Cutthroats a 29-23 lead in the fourth quarter against Richfield. The Tigers
scored the next 10 points for a 33-29 advantage, but the Cutthroats pulled out
the win. Express photo by David N. Seelig
Only three days
before, Hickey’s game-winning 10-footer with five seconds left had given the
Cutthroats (3-2, 3-1) a thrilling 34-33 home win over Richfield—after they
squandered a 10-point fourth-quarter lead.
It was quite a
week. The outcomes were similar, but they were two completely different games.
Against
Richfield, the Cutthroats trailed 12-7 after one quarter. Moving the ball well
on offense and playing scrappy defense, the Cutthroats outscored the Tigers 16-5
in the middle quarters and led 23-17 after three.
Two Hickey
baskets in the paint, on fine feeds by Connelly and Ochi, hiked the lead to
27-17 with 5:55 left. Richfield called time and installed its own pressing
defense which did a lot of damage—a 16-2 run for a 33-29 Tiger advantage with
a minute left.
The situation
seemed dire.
Then Connelly
rebounded a three-point miss by Ochi and was fouled. Erika hit the first of two.
At 19 seconds, Ochi stole the ball on the trap at mid-court and outleted to
Rutherford. Jenny passed to Connelly, who put it up and in cutting the lead to
33-32.
Hickey (8
rebounds) pulled down a missed Tiger free throw at six seconds and the
Cutthroats had one more chance, an inbounds underneath the Tiger basket. Ochi
made the pass, a lob, and Hickey calmly hit the game-winning jumper for the
34-33 win.
It wasn’t
scripted. Waterfield said, "We had no time outs, and Richfield was in a
man-to-man. The girls just adjusted well in a sticky situation."
Ochi (16.4 ppg
with 16 3s) finished with 12 points, 4 rebounds, 8 steals and 5 assists. Hickey
added 10 points and 8 boards, Goddard 5 points and 10 rebounds, Connelly 5
points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 4 assists.
Caitlin
Cairncross had 2 points and 4 rebounds, Rutherford 3 boards, 2 steals and 2
assists. Leading Richfield was junior Michelle Schmidt with 18 points and 13
rebounds, while Shannon Meyer chipped in 13 boards.
On Friday,
Shoshone (7-2, 3-1) came to the Fish Tank fresh off a 22-point win over Carey.
The Indians had beaten 3A Kimberly and Gooding, and 2A Valley by 10 points.
But Shoshone was
staring at a 15-6 deficit after one quarter as the fired-up Cutthroats jumped to
a 9-0 lead—and Connelly had the hot hand with 9 points in the first quarter
alone.
"We’re
usually a second-half team because we have five girls who played soccer and they’re
in good shape. But we had talked a lot about what we needed to do to become a
first-half team," Waterfield said.
Hickey scored 8
points in the second quarter as the withering Cutthroat press caused problems.
Passing well, Waterfield’s squad deftly handled the Shoshone press well in the
third—and continued to play strong defense.
Ochi’s
three-pointer, from Goddard, upped the lead to 46-37 early in the fourth.
Rutherford’s follow shot on Ochi’s missed shot kept the lead at nine points,
54-45, before Shoshone made its last incredible rally.
Meghan Sorensen
of Shoshone, who sank the game-tying three-pointer, led the Indians with 15
points, Katie Strunk had 14 and Sarah Hubsmith finished with 13 points.
The Community
School travels to Carey tonight, Wednesday, hoping to avenge a five-point loss
Dec. 3.