DIXFIELD — There are small steps that mark a team’s progress throughout the regular season.
Then there are the giant leaps that come in unexpected moments. Saturday night, was one of those sizable jumps for the Oak Hill girls’ basketball team.
The Raiders rallied late in regulation, watched a late lead slip away but regrouped in overtime, despite not having one of their veterans in the lineup. Oak Hill showed composure well beyond its seasoning in a 69-68 victory over Dirigo.
“That was just amazing,” said junior guard Hayley Marshall, whose free throws broke the tie late in overtime. “That was definitely one of the most exciting games this season by far. It was really stressful, but we came together and we just focused and we pulled it out.”
The win should bump Oak Hill (10-3) up the Western B standings where it could avoid a preliminary game.
“As we head to where we want to head, this is a game we needed to have,” Oak Hill coach Tom Morong said. “To win on the road up here was great. We had Sadie Goulet, our best shooter, miss most of the fourth and overtime. It’s been a thing all year long where we just go to the bench and someone else steps up and contributes big time.”
The Raiders had a number of players do that, despite their inexperience in such situations. With Goulet out of the lineup because of injury, Marshall and Jamie Prue were superb in the back court while players like Bri Mulherin, Vanessa Wright and Grace Sabine came up huge in the post.
“Wright, who came in for Sadie, we were having a tough time against (Kelsey) Hutchins,” Morong said. “Vanessa seemed to match up with her very well. We didn’t have a senior on the floor. Sabine is a sophomore. She had a huge offensive rebound off the missed free throw.”
Hutchins led Dirigo (8-4) with a career-high 35 points. Lauren Henderson added 19. Oak Hill got 19 from Mulherin, a freshman. Goulet and Marshall each had 14 while Kelsey Collins added nine.
“The whole game was like a roller coaster,” Marshall said. “Up and down, back and forth. Going into overtime, we knew we had to pull out all the weapons and I thought we did that.”
Though Hutchins sparked Dirigo’s rally in the third with 26 in the second half, she was held to just two free throws in overtime. The Cougars had just one field goal in overtime, and that was an Emma Lueders rebound basket at the buzzer off a missed 3 by Jessica Conant.
“She just got space and we had to front her more,” said Morong of Hutchins. “That helped take away the entry passes.”
Marshall had put Oak Hill up 60-59 with 51 seconds left in regulation on a drive to the basket. Dirigo had a play designed to go to the post but it ended up dissolving. Lindsy Crutchfield ended up drawing a foul with three seconds left. She hit one of the two free throws to force overtime.
“I’ve got two other post players with Jess and Lauren,” said Dirigo coach Reggie Weston. “That’s what we were trying to do, get it into Jess, but it got busted. It was a little hectic at the end. We’re still young. Those girls are juniors and the others starters are sophomores. Lindsy is the only senior.”
In overtime, Mulherin scored early to put the Raiders ahead. Dirigo kept close and tied it on free throws by Henderson with 2:35 remaining and took the lead on two from the foul line by Hutchins with 1:55 left.
Mulherin, who left the game late with an injury but returned, scored in the post with 1:10 left to tie it. Then with 18 seconds remaining Marshall sank a pair of free throws for the lead.
“I was nervous,” Marshall said. “It was nerve-wracking. I just drowned out everything and gave my all. “
After Dirigo threw the ball away, Mulherin was fouled and sent to the line. She hit one to make it 69-66 with five seconds remaining.
The Cougars had one last try. The plan was to set up a shooter for a potential tying 3. Conant had a look at the left corner but just missed. Lueders got the rebound but only had time to put it back up for two.
“I had two girls that tried to get open and Lauren had a choice to go with either one,” Weston said. “She went with Jess. I try to tell them three seconds is a long time. She kind of rushed it but she’s a good shooter.”
Oak Hill opened a six-point lead in the first but a Crutchfield 3 made it 16-13 after one. The Raiders opened a 10-point lead in the second. Dirigo shot 5-for-23 in the quarter while Mulherin scored six and Prue hit a 3 to build the lead. A late surge by Dirigo closed the gap to 29-25 at the half.
In the third, Hutchins scored 10 points and led the Dirigo comeback. The Cougars got as close as two and were down 48-45 entering the fourth. Oak Hill struggled to to stop Hutchins, who scored another 16 points in the fourth. Dirigo took the lead with 6:51 left on a Hutchins basket. The Cougars opened up a 54-48 advantage midway through the quarter and were also up 59-54 with 2:41 remaining. A drive by Marshall and a basket by Mulherin got Oak Hill within one with 1:36 left. Then Marshall scored on her drive to give the Raiders the lead with 51 seconds left.
“I’ve never coached a game where the kids were on the floor more than they were tonight,” Morong said. “It wasn’t dirty. It was clean hard basketball. Dirigo is one of the best teams we’ve faced all year.”
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