Just keep shooting: Wooster erases 14-point deficit, tops Mansfield Senior for OCC win

MANSFIELD — Wooster head coach Alex Kacere asks two things of his players — give great effort and put the program and team before themselves.

They are allowed to make mistakes, take as many shots as they want and play the game free.

In the second half of the Generals' 66-60 win over Mansfield Senior, they did just that. After heading into the halftime locker room trailing the Tygers 35-21, the Generals pushed the reset button and flushed the first 16 minutes down the drain. They came out in the second half and outscored Mansfield Senior 45-25 to pull off the improbable comeback victory.

It was junior Nora Levy and sophomore Tori Pettorini who spearheaded the come-from-behind victory as the duo combined for 44 points, 37 of those came in the second half. Pettorini led the way with 24 points including a pair of threes while Levy chipped in with 20 with two triples to her credit.

"This is our fourth game and we have found three prolific scorers so far," Wooster coach Alex Kacere said. "It is great to see that in all of our games, someone else has stepped up and tonight, it was those two. At halftime, we thought 14 points wasn't insurmountable because our effort wasn't there. If they gave effort in the second half, we thought we could win and they did."

The effort was like night and day as the Generals chipped away at the Mansfield Senior lead little by little and cut it to six by the end of the third, 45-39.

Then, the Generals turned up the heat a little bit more. Pettorini started the fourth off with a three before her layup made it 49-47 early in the fourth. She hit her second three of the night with 4:48 left in the game to make it 51-50 Mansfield Senior.

Moments later, Levy knocked down a pair of three throws with 4:32 remaining and the Generals had their first lead of the game. They never relinquished it even after the Tygers tied it up at 54 all with 3:02 left but the Generals ended the game on a 12-6 run to pull out the victory.

It was all thanks to a second wind the Generals found in the second half.

"We just wanted to bring more effort," Levy said. "We felt like we needed to hustle back and cover on defense and move the ball more on offense. We were really fired up and halftime and we came out in the second half and played with the fire we knew we had. We played as hard as we could and the score with indicative of the effort we put in during the second half."

When the game was on the line, Levy and Pettorini were lights out. They combined for 10 free throws in the fourth quarter alone going a perfect 10-for-10 between the two of them.

"I just wanted to win," Levy said. "I wanted that first OCC win of the season and I was just doing what I had to do. I have to give credit to Tori because she was hitting from outside and finding me when I was open. We played a very nice team game."

Elly Baderstscher scored eight points to added a third scorer to the mix while Aubry Farnsworth added six, Grace Kostohryz had four, Haylee Braden scored three and Grace Grey rounded out the scoring with one.

The Generals made just two threes in the first half before knocking down four more in the second half as they played with a clear mind during the final 16 minutes.

"I trust my shooters," Kacere said. "We teach that. In the second half, Tori started shooting, Nora started shooting and we started rebounding the misses. That is what we do and it was nice to see it lead to a win."

Kacere was happy to see his two playmakers step up especially because the offense was lending itself to their success.

"We never put it on a single player to attack," Kacere said. "We trust that the offense will provide opportunities for just about anyone and if you are open, you always have the green light."

As for the slow start, Kacere just chalks it up to the case of the Mondays.

"We wanted that," Kacere said. "We just played a Monday game; it felt like a Monday game. We were lackadaisical and that is why I used a lot of timeouts in the first half. It is unacceptable to play that way and when we do come out and play with effort, we are very hard to beat."

The Generals (2-2, 1-1) earned a nice Ohio Cardinal Conference win over the Tygers, a team many expect to compete for a league championship as the season evolves.

"It's very huge," Kacere said. "Our program needed this. We needed a road win. We haven't played at home yet and we only have one home game before January so we needed to get on a bus and get a win. I am proud of these girls. We trust them and believe in them."

Wooster turns around and hosts Mount Vernon on Thursday, a team that knocked off Mansfield Senior last week. And if there is anything the Generals learned on Monday, it is to play with effort and free of any worry. Levy vows to play for her teammates because that is what makes them successful.

"We love playing together and are a very close group," Levy said. "When someone gets going, everyone feeds off of it. Tori and I got it going and although some girls may not have had the points, they were everything we needed them to be on the defensive end getting steals, blocking shots and playing hard defense that ultimately won us the game."

jfurr@gannett.com

740-244-9934

Twitter: @JakeFurr11

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Wooster Generals Alex Kacere Nora Levy Tori Pettorini Mansfield Senior Tygers