Athletics are designed for there to be a winner and a loser in each competition, but on this night it was difficult to call anyone a loser.
Playing in their Southwestern Conference opener Dec. 6, Avon and host Amherst stood toe-to-toe and matched each other basket for basket until the Comets came out with a thrilling victory, 59-56, in overtime. The difference in the game? A half-court desperation toss by Natalie Pleban that banked in as the buzzer went off.
“That was a great high school girls basketball game,” said Amherst coach John Rositano. “It was well-played, with two good teams going at it. Luckily, we came out on top.”
Avon coach Maggie Ferrando felt much the same way.
“I went in (the locker room) and I said, ‘You guys played great. It was just a lucky shot at the end,’” Ferrando said. “It was a bad way to end for us, but give them credit. I’m not mad at our guys at all. I thought we worked our butts off. I think we played great. I really do. It sucks to end like that, but I thought we did a great job.”
Kayla Ferancy, who led all players with 25 points, hit a huge 3-pointer from about 25 feet with 5 seconds remaining in overtime to knot the score at 56-56. It was the 11th consecutive point the senior had scored for her team, single-handedly keeping the Comets within reach.
“Ferancy is a big-time player,” Ferrando said. “I said that last year. She definitely took over the game.”
It appeared things were headed for a second overtime, but Ferrando called a timeout with 3.5 seconds remaining to try to set up a full-court inbounds play. After the teams took the court, Ferrando called a second timeout.
“We were seeing how they were playing it, which is why we called another timeout,” she said. “At first, we were thinking of throwing it long and then calling another timeout, but we scratched that. It shouldn’t come down to the last play. Unfortunately, it did.”
Pleban knows a thing or two about stopping shots, as she was the goalkeeper for Amherst’s soccer team that posted 12 shutouts. Rositano placed her at the top of the key as sort of a centerfielder. When Avon’s inbounds pass was too high for freshman point guard Alaina Pagan, Pleban grabbed the ball right in front of the scorer’s table and heaved it toward the basket.
“You’ve just got to hope for the best in that situation,” said Pleban, who had never hit a halfcourt shot or a game-winning shot in her basketball career. “It felt good when I shot it … and it went in. There’s not much to say about it. I’m speechless.”
Ferancy said she had a good angle on Pleban’s heave, and that she had unwavering confidence in her teammate.
“With 3 seconds left, we really were just working on our defense,” she said. “We didn’t want to give up a long pass or an easy shot. Never did I think we would get into that position, but Natalie is a great player and she’s been working hard. Honestly, I was standing right next to her when she shot it, and I knew it was going in the second it left her hand.”
The four regulation quarters were quite even, with Amherst’s biggest lead coming in the opening moments when the Comets scored the first six points of the game. Avon battled back to trail by one after the first period, 16-15. Both teams put together runs in the second quarter, which ended with the Eagles on top, 30-29. Early in the third quarter, Avon built a 39-31 lead, but by the end of the stanza it was down to 41-39.
Neither team led by more than four in the fourth quarter and neither team scored in the final minute of regulation play, which ended in a tie at 48-48.
With Ferancy hitting two jumpers and a free throw, Amherst built a 53-50 lead with 1:34 remaining in overtime. However, Avon scored six points in just over a minute, as Molly Drenik scored on a layup, Grace Mangan drained a clutch 3-pointer from the left corner with 45 seconds left and Amelia Holbrook split two free throws with 17.5 seconds to go, setting up Ferancy’s clutch 3-pointer and Pleban’s half court dagger.
“I just told them, when you play that hard, sometimes good things just happen,” Rositano said. “They played their butts off, especially the five who played heavy minutes. Sometimes you’re rewarded for being tough, hard-nosed and grinding out a win. I’m proud of them.”
Kristen Kelley scored 10 points for Amherst before fouling out late in the fourth quarter, with Bradyn Silvasy adding nine, Ava Darmos eight and Pleban seven. The next game for the 2-1 Comets is Dec. 11 at North Ridgeville.
Avon, 2-1, was led by Pagan with 15 points. She was backed by Molly Drenik with 11, Mangan with nine and Abby Owens with eight. Next up for the Eagles is a home game Dec. 13 against arch-rival Avon Lake.
