Opportunity came knocking — or in this case, whistling.
West Liberty-Salem’s girls basketball squad saw its five-game winning streak come to an end Monday, as they lost 48-39 to visiting Cedarville in Ohio Heritage Conference play.
One of the main factors in the Indians’ win was their ability to connect at the free throw line. They shot 15 of 19 (79 percent), with the majority of those coming in the fourth quarter after the Tigers had tied the game at 36.
Cedarville also disrupted West Liberty-Salem’s offense, forcing a number of turnovers.
The Lady Tigers are now 9-4 in the OHC and 12-5 overall. They have five games left in the regular season.
“We got behind there in the fourth quarter. We had to foul and they had some girls that hadn’t been shooting foul shots real well all year that knocked them down tonight,” said WL-S coach Dennis McIntosh.
“We didn’t execute the way we have been here for the past week and they played well tonight. Cedarville did a nice job. We just didn’t hold up our end of the deal tonight,” he added.
Ava Astorino led the Lady Tigers with 15 points. Addi Wallen had eight and Ava Poppe added seven. Poppe had WL-S’ only trip to the free throw line, making one of two.
For Cedarville, now 7-8 in the league and 9-9 overall, Maria Christian had 17 points. Katelyn Reed and Audrey Shepherd contributed nine apiece.
The teams battled in the early going, with Cedarville building a 12-7 lead. It was the “Ava” show early for the Tigers as they got a three by Johnson, and scores by Poppe and Astorino.
A shot from deep by Astorino cut the lead to two. After scores by Brenna Atkins and Reed for the Indians, Astorino lined up and hit at the buzzer for three to make it 16-13.
Cedarville increased that margin at the start of the second quarter, getting a jumper by Atkins, a free throw by Ayden Rodgers, and then a steal and score by Christian. That led to a Tigers timeout with not quite three minutes gone by.
West Liberty-Salem got shots by Astorino and Maddie McGill to fall about a minute apart. Reed got two free throws and a second-chance basket for Cedarville. Then, just as in the first quarter, Astorino launched from behind the 3-point arc and splashed it to put the difference at five, 25-20.
After allowing a three-pointer to open the second half, West Liberty-Salem found a scoring groove halfway through the third. Poppe scored, Astorino drove the lane and a three by Wallen from the side of the arc cut it to 28-27 with 2:40 to play.
Cedarville got its only other points of the frame, then McGill answered. A buck by Wallen with a few ticks left gave the Tigers the lead, 31-30, going to the fourth.
Poppe set up a score by Belle Sarver to start the final frame. But Cedarville responded with a three and a two by Christian to retake the lead. With 5:50 to go, Chrstian drew a call and made one of two foul shots.
With 4 1/2 minutes left, Wallen worked free and hit from 3-point land, tying the contest.
The Indians then started their run on free throws, getting four in a row. A Cedarville steal then led to a basket and foul shot by Shepherd, pushing it to 43-36 with just 90 seconds left.
An assist by Astorino created a score by Poppe. After a timeout, four more free throws helped ice the game for Cedarville.
West Liberty-Salem won the JV game 25-20, with nine points apiece from Arianna Weaver and Lucy Cole.
“This is our fifth game in 10 days,” noted McIntosh. “Hopefully, we get a little rest and we can finish out the season strong.”
West Liberty-Salem (9-4, 12-5) plays at West Jefferson on Thursday.