BASKETBALL: Lady Falcons take out Woodlawn in OT
ELKVILLE, IL - The Lady Falcons let an eleven point lead slip away in the fourth quarter of Monday night's Regional Quarterfinal matchup with Woodlawn, but made 8-of-10 free throws in the overtime to knock off the Lady Cardinals 69-65 in front of their hometown crowd at Elverado High School.
"That made a big difference, it was about time we made a few free throws," said EHS head coach Lance Bedar. "We couldn't have picked a better time to make them."
Four Lady Falcons scored in double figures, led by senior Hannah Rawson's 20-point performance.
Woodlawn led 22-13 midway through the second quarter and seemed to be in command. A couple turnovers led to a 7-0 run by Elverado, however, capped off by Rawson's three-pointer with 1:37 left in the opening half. Woodlawn's Carly Ethridge sank a three with 39 seconds to go to restore a five-point Cardinals lead, but Rawson had an answer, hitting again from beyond the arc to close EHS to within two at the break.
Corrine Wilson took her turn at the trifecta just seconds into the second half to give the Lady Falcons the lead and spark a 9-0 run. Cheyenne Abbadusky had four points during the stretch which resulted in a 34-27 advantage for Elverado. Rawson later added her third triple of the night, and EHS was on top 44-35 heading to the fourth quarter.
Down 50-39 with five minutes to play, the Lady Cardinals began their own comeback. Ethridge connected from downtown again, and Woodlawn's star player Alexa Capps put in four of her game-high 34 points to close out a 7-0 spurt.
Capps had 14 points in the fourth quarter and 8 in a row for the Lady Cardinals, driving in for short-range jumpers on command as Woodlawn crept to within two of EHS with just 14.4 seconds remaining in regulation.
"(Capps is) always a handful," said Bedar. "This is the first time we've beat her in four years."
The Lady Falcons had the ball, but were called for a five-second violation that allowed Cassandra Lueking to tie the game with a pair of free throws after grabbing an offensive rebound.
"In the last two minutes we kind of panicked," Bedar said. "With four seniors on the floor, they shouldn't, but we did. We're just glad we won and we're looking forward to Wednesday."
In the overtime, Elverado did what they struggled to do most of the first 32 minutes - make free throws. Rawson put the Falcons on top by two with a steal and a fast-break basket with 1:41 to play, and in the final minute Elverado players went 7-for-8 at the charity stripe to hold off Capps and company.
Abbadusky finished a point behind Rawson with 19, Rebecca Korando and Paige Newfarmer each had 10. Wilson added 8 points and Meghann Trammel had 2.
The Lady Falcons will take on the Regional's top seed, Wayne City, on Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m. in Elkville. The winner moves on to Thursday's championship at 7:30.