Lady Patriots lose heartbreaker to host Knights
It was a game they weren't "expected to" challenge in. It was a game that nearly knocked off the 16-2, Western Indiana Conference-leading Northview Knights. For the Lady Patriots, the near win against the Lady Knights was a very good sign as they inch every closer to the post season.
With a regular six-man rotation, Owen Valley hasn't utilized their young, inexperienced bench much this season. At Northview, the Patriots were down a member of that regular six-man group. Winning at Northview was going to difficult indeed with added fatigue and foul trouble plaguing the already small group.
But, the Lady Patriots came out hungry.
OV trailed by five after one quarter of play, 12-7. A huge defensive stand in the second frame held the Lady Knights to just five points, allowing OV to take a 20-17 lead into the halftime locker room.
The two teams battled back and forth on the hardwood, with the Lady Patriots holding onto a two point advantage heading into the final quarter of play, 32-30.
Northview seniors Macy Timberman and Tara Pearce came in clutch down the stretch, both hitting two front beyond the arc in the fourth. But everytime Northview did something to try to pull away OV would come back with some heroics of their own. Senior Kyndall Drake and junior Reagan Martin both hit key three's in the final frame.
In the end, it wasn't to be for Owen Valley. And although losing a close, hard-fought contest such as this certainly took a little wind out of their sails, it is very promising for the upcoming post-season.
"Wow - talk about a game," Owen Valley coach Trace Temples said after the game. "Getting to play a Northview team, probably right up there with one of the best teams on our schedule so far this year and players like Timberman, Spencer... those types of kids who have been doing it for a while and doing it at a high level. I was talking to Coach Keyes and he feels like this is one of his better teams that he's had and watching our girls come out tonight, after building upon the last five or six games, and we challenged them once again. 'We've done some good things, lets go see what we can do against a really good team.' The ball bounces another way or two... you never know what happens in a game like this. We gave ourselves a chance. We fought till the end."
The Lady Patriots were led in scoring by Martin with 25 points, followed by Drake with 13, Madi Kay six, Elizabeth Johnson two and Lily Smith one.
"I'm extremely proud of our group. The energy was there tonight... not just from the kids on the floor but even the kids on the bench," Coach Temples continued. "This was an exciting basketball game. You look at Timberman, she had 23 tonight... We made her work for all 23 of those. She's a great player. Look at our scoring with Reagan at 25, Madi with six, Johnson with two, Drake 13... even Lilly with one point. Every single one of those baskets, every single one of those attacks... was exactly what we needed tonight. I'm really proud of our group. This is exactly what we needed. We're not here for moral victories, but we proved to ourselves that we can compete with a really good basketball team."
Owen Valley will host the North Putnam Cougars on Friday, January 21. The varsity girls' will play at 6 p.m. with the junior varsity girls to follow at 7:30 p.m. The Lady Patriots are scheduled to finish out their regular season with a game on the road at White River Valley on Tuesday, Jan. 25 and a make-up home contest against Edgewood on Thursday, Jan. 27. JV is scheduled for 6 p.m. on both nights, with varsity to follow at 7:30 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Evening World: Lady Patriots lose heartbreaker to host Knights
