Dynamic in defeat
ROSS TWP — Amanda Sloan crumpled to the floor and covered her face with her hands.
It was over.
The senior on the Moniteau High School girls basketball team had made an improbable 3-pointer at the fourth-quarter buzzer to send the Warriors into overtime against heavily favored Keystone Oaks.
Sloan had also hit two big jump shots in overtime to help Moniteau build a 41-34 lead with 1:20 remaining.
But the game lasted 4.6 seconds too long as a pair of free throws by Maryssa Agurs and a turnover by Moniteau in the closing seconds gave Keystone Oaks a 44-43 win Friday night in the first round of the PIAA Class AA playoffs at North Hills Middle School.
Sloan exited the locker room in tears, but Moniteau coach Mark Yeager said his team had nothing to be sad about.
“They don't want to hear it right now,” Yeager said. “But, hey, we were 14-10 coming in here. No one gave us a chance, and we almost pulled one out. I'm very proud of them.”
Agurs took a jumper from eight feet away with less than 10 seconds remaining, but the shot was long. The guard, who missed practice for most of the week with flu-like symptoms, grabbed the rebound and was fouled going up for another shot.
She calmly went to the line and sank both free throws to give the knockout punch for KO.
Yeager lamented the foul call.
“I just wish the ref would have swallowed his whistle there,” Yeager said. “Most of the time, in that situation, the officials put the whistle in their pocket. That was a tough one.
“But we missed free throws,” Yeager said. “We make a couple more of them ... and way too many turnovers.”
Moniteau was just 13-of-26 from the free-throw line and committed 27 turnovers.That kept the Warriors from taking advantage of an epic slow start by Keystone Oaks.The Golden Eagles (20-7) missed 29 of their first 30 shots and were 3-of-31 shooting in the first half, yet still led 11-10 at the break.Keystone Oaks coach Nikki Presto, a Slippery Rock University graduate, shook her head and sighed when she heard those numbers.“Unbelievable,” Presto said. “I really got on them at halftime. Eleven points? We have two or three kids who average that per game. But (Moniteau) did a great job getting back and slowing the game down. That is their forte.”Presto said a 10-day layoff may have played a part in the slow start.“I told them it's not an excuse,” Presto said. “There are a lot of teams who haven't played in 10 days.”Moniteau's defense played a bigger part in those struggles, however.The Warriors were relentless, keeping Keystone Oaks from driving to the hoop.Moniteau (14-11) drew four charging calls and kept Agurs and Alexa Xenakis bottled up for most of the game.“We had three game films on them, so we knew what they liked to do,” Yeager said. “They don't run an offense. They just drive and dish.”“They did a great job on help defense,” Presto said. “They did a great job on switches. They frustrated us.”That frustration boiled over in overtime and nearly allowed Moniteau to pull off the upset.
After Sloan's 3-pointer, Moniteau went on a 7-0 run against shell-shocked KO to take a 40-33 lead with 1:53 remaining.The Warriors led 41-34 with 1:20 left when the Golden Eagles launched their rally.Agurs and Xenakis scored all 11 points for Keystone Oaks in OT and ended up with 39 of their team's 44 points.“It was real ugly at the end,” Presto said. “There were a couple of them — I could see it in their eyes — they knew we were going to win. Agurs, Xenakis — they wanted the ball in their hands. They finished when it really counted.“This is big for us going forward,” Presto added. “I don't know what it is, but we're a cardiac team. We always seem to pull it out in the end. We have something special.”For Moniteau, there is at least a moral victory.“I know I said this before,” Yeager said. “I'm just so proud of them.”<B></B>MONITEAU 43Fontaine Glenn 3-3 2-4 8, Ashley Brehm 1-3 2-7 4, Krista Snyder 0-2 2-2 2, Nikki Yeckel 0-1 0-0 0, Emily Rider 0-0 1-2 1, Heather Porter 4-12 5-6 14, Amanda Sloan 6-14 0-1 13, Katie Brehm 0-2 1-4 1. <B>Totals:</B> 14-37 13-26 43.<B>KEYSTONE OAKS 44</B>Maria Scanlon 0-3 0-0 0, Maryssa Agurs 7-17 5-9 19, Taylor Brownlee 0-8 0-0 0, Jillian Welch 1-6 1-4 3, Alexa Xenakis 5-16 10-11 20, Lexy Mercuri 0-3 2-2 2, Kayla Brownlee 0-7 0-0 0, Olivia Lippert 0-1 0-0 0. <B>Totals:</B> 13-61 18-26 44.<B>Moniteau 3 7 9 14 10—43Keystone Oaks 4 7 12 10 11—443-point goals:</B> Moniteau 2 (Porter, Sloan); Keystone Oaks 0.
