In the process of giving the home fans last Friday night at Newport High School’s Spangler Court one heck of a show, and maybe a heart palpitation or two, the Cubs girls basketball team showed off its resiliency in fighting to the very last second of a hard-fought 56-55 overtime victory over Estacada in a thriller of a 4A non-league contest.
Things looked bleak early on for the home team, when the Rangers raced to a 9-0 lead behind a trio of 3-point baskets in the first three minutes of action before the Cubs found their footing.
Newport seemingly had things wrapped up in regulation, when senior Piper Thompson hit the first of two free throws with 5 seconds left to give the Cubs a 51-49 lead. Thompson missed her second attempt from the free-throw line, the Rangers grabbed the rebound and called a timeout, giving them the ball out of bounds underneath their own hoop with 3.9 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Following the timeout, Estacada junior Emerson Bailey inbounded to sophomore Visesia Fakatoufifita, who quickly turned and fired a picture-perfect pass in the paint to sophomore Abby Berhman, who dribbled once, then fired off a runner that found the bottom of the net as time expired to tie it and send it to overtime.
In the extra session, Newport senior guard Avonly Wolf scored in the interior to break a 52-52 tie with 1:22 left, then collected a steal, ran the length of the floor and converted a transition layup just over Fakatoufifita’s reach with 22 seconds left in OT to give the Cubs a 56-52 lead.
Though Bailey drained a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left, cutting the Cubs’ advantage to a single point, Wolf was able to run out the final four seconds on the clock to seal Newport’s fourth win in five games to improve to 7-5. Entering 4A-3 Oregon West Conference play this week, the Cubs had yet to lose in four home games.
Wolf was 4 of 4 from the foul line, sank seven shots from the field and closed with a team-leading 18 points. Cubs sophomore forward Sheala Simmons scored nine of her 17 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, and seniors Abbey Green and Tori Smith each contributed eight points for Newport.
Emerson led the Rangers with a 16-point effort, while Fakatoufifita connected three times from 3-point range and scored 15.
Newport begins Oregon West Conference play with a 5:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 20, at home game against Philomath, which last week was ranked No. 9 in the 4A girls basketball coaches poll.
ELSEWHERE:
Irish split a pair
Junior post Lillyn LeGrand led Waldport to its third win in four games Thursday with a 34-20 home victory over Illinois Valley before the Irish fell 48-31 Saturday at Monroe to Monroe/Alsea in a pair of 2A-3 Valley Coast Conference games.
LeGrand scored six points in the paint in the opening seven minutes of play en route to a team-high 10 points in Waldport’s defeat of the Cougars. Irish junior forward Airyanna Paden tallied five of her nine points during the second quarter, including Waldport’s lone successful 3-pointer, when the Irish outscored Illinois Valley 10-3 to take a 20-9 lead into halftime.
After falling Saturday to the Dragons, ranked ninth in last week’s 2A coaches poll, Waldport took a 3-4, 5-8 record into its Tuesday night league game at home against No. 4 Bandon. The Irish close out this week with a 6 p.m. league game Friday, Jan. 20, at Gold Beach.
ECS loses twice
The Eagles lost senior Rylee Russell, the reigning 1A-3 Mountain West League MVP, to a left leg injury during their Thursday night 49-40 league loss at Crow. Eddyville then dropped its third straight in a 62-36 non-league loss Saturday at Umpqua Valley Christian.
Russell is expected to be reevaluated by doctors either late this week or early next week after receiving an initial diagnosis of either a bad sprain or hairline fracture.
The Eagles, who began the week 4-2 in league games, 6-6 overall, were scheduled Tuesday to host Triangle Lake and Thursday to play at home against Mapleton, both of which are 1A-3 Mountain West League games.
In other girls basketball games late last week:
• Toledo broke a six-game losing streak with a 50-48 win Thursday at Lowell before traveling Saturday to defeat Gold Beach 44-36 for a pair of key 2A-3 Valley Coast Conference victories. The Boomers (3-3, 6-8), who won last Thursday for the first time since a 47-9 win Dec. 20 at home over Reedsport, were scheduled Tuesday to host No. 2 Central Linn, then travel Thursday, Jan. 19 to play at Oakland and Friday against Monroe/Alsea at Monroe High School.
• Fourth-ranked Amity dealt Taft a 53-31 Friday night road defeat in 3A-3 PacWest Conference play as the Tigers slipped to 2-2 in league games, 7-6 overall. Taft is slated to travel Thursday, Jan. 19, to play at Jefferson, then on Saturday at Scio in a pair of league contests.
• Triangle Lake posted a 48-9 home win Thursday night in 1A-3 Mountain West League play over Siletz Valley. This week, the Warriors (0-7, 0-9) were scheduled to face McKenzie on Tuesday at home for a league game then travel today (Wednesday) to play a nonconference game on the road against Falls City/Kings Valley Charter.
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