ASHLAND – The house was packed and the house was rocking Thursday at Arrow Arena for what Ashland girls basketball fans hoped would be an Ohio Cardinal Conference coronation.
Apparently, New Philadelphia’s squad doesn’t like house parties.
The Arrows fired out to a 16-7 lead through one quarter – sprinting toward their first outright league title in 30 years. But the Quakers picked away at the deficit and sent things into overtime.
Ashland scored the first four points of the extra period. However, New Philly answered with a 6-0 run and used two free throws from freshman guard Aubrie Wells with 4.1 seconds left to spoil the hosts’ plans, 45-43.
(Photos by Doug Haidet)
“We knew it was going to be packed with the potential of them cutting down nets,” said seventh-year Quakers head coach Kevin Cornell, whose team lost to Ashland 57-50 in December. “We told the girls that you don’t get these opportunities very often to play in front of crowds like that. They had a great student section.
“We just wanted to embrace the situation and not be nervous. This is why you play sports.”
The Arrows (13-4, 9-1 OCC) were riding a nine-game win streak and even had members in attendance from the 1994-95 squad that won the program’s last conference title.
Everyone in orange and black was geared up for a celebration.
Instead, one year after finishing in the basement of the OCC, the Quakers (12-6, 8-3) will cling to hopes that they can still share the crown with Ashland.
The Arrows now move their goal for an outright title to Saturday’s home game against Madison (7-12, 6-5).
“What a cool opportunity,” fifth-year Ashland head coach Renee Holt said. “This program hasn’t seen a crowd like that on their home floor in I don’t even know how long.
“I told them to soak it up and don’t hang your heads. We’ve battled all year and the cool thing is we can still hang those numbers on the banner with another game on Saturday.”
Things seemed to be going to plan from the outset Thursday.
Ashland junior guard Madison Hoffman tallied eight points in her first 3 minutes on the floor and the Arrows surged ahead 21-7 in the second quarter after a basket from junior forward Camryn Cox.
For long stretches, New Philly couldn’t break through Ashland’s aggressive defensive pressure, finishing the first half with more turnovers (19) than points (15).
But the Quakers scratched out an 8-0 run to hit halftime trailing 21-15 despite making just five shots from the field.
“We talked about this being like a tournament-feel kind of game,” Cornell said. “They’re an extremely talented team, they’re young and they’re gonna be good for the next few years.”
The Arrows, meanwhile, had 13 fouls at intermission, as junior guard Grace Tobias was the lone AHS starter without at least two at that point.
Ashland had 10 points off the turnovers it forced in the first period, but the scoring dried up in the second and third quarters, when the hosts were outscored 20-11.
The Quakers packed their defense into the paint in an effort to hold down usual AHS scoring leaders Kennedy Lacey (15.8 points per game) and Cox (7.9).
The plan worked.
While Hoffman had a season-best night with 17 points and hit at least one 3-pointer in every quarter (five for the game), Lacey and Cox mustered just 18 combined points, with six coming from the free-throw line.
“They came out with a great game plan, kind of shutting down our inside,” Holt said, “and we were trying to rely on our 3-point shot, and they rushed us a little bit.”
“(Hoffman) is the one that kept us in this game,” she added. “For her to step up like that … she’s just an all-around great player.”
The key culprit in the paint for New Philly was 5-foot-11 forward Ava Riesen.
The senior finished with a game-high 19 points and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe while being a major disruptor on defense.
“(Riesen) missed all of last season with an ACL injury, and she’s coming back and has had those moments,” Cornell said. “When she’s on like that, she’s as good as anybody inside.”
The teams hit the fourth quarter tied at 27 and traded the lead on five occasions in the final 8 minutes of regulation.
Neither team led by more than two points in the fourth. And while the Quakers tried to bleed the clock late on offense, Cox came through with a rebound off a missed free throw with 24 seconds left, then made a pair of free throws at the other end to tie it at 37-37.
The junior then pulled down a rebound off a miss to get the ball back in Ashland’s hands with 6 seconds left, but Hoffman’s game-winning attempt just outside the paint sailed over the rim to set up overtime.
Cox opened the extra period with a putback and Tobias followed with a bucket off an assist from Lacey with 2:07 remaining.
But New Philly scored the next six points – four of those following Ashland turnovers – and after Lacey tied it at 43-all with 39 seconds to play, Wells went to the line and calmly sank the game-winning free throws with 4.1 showing.
Before those shots went in, Quakers other than Riesen were just 2-for-12 from the stripe in the game.
“We didn’t make it easy at the free-throw line,” Cornell said, “but I give our freshman credit stepping up and hitting two big ones.”
Ashland did get the ball back, but didn’t get off a shot, instead committing its fifth turnover of overtime.
New Philly now needs to beat Lexington in its final OCC game and hope the Arrows will lose to Madison on Saturday and at last-place Mansfield Senior on Feb. 6.
The Quakers are 11-4 in their last 15 games and are in the midst of a stretch of five road games in nine days.
Ashland, despite Thursday’s letdown, still has plans to keep the conference crown all to itself.
“We wanted this one in front of our crowd on our home court,” Cox said. “But the job’s not done yet and we’re still gonna work for it. I’m confident we can still come out on top.”
“It’s almost good for us,” Holt said. “It’s a wake-up call going into the end of the season and into tournaments.”