DUKE CENTER — Coudersport is back in the driver’s seat, and it was able to get a sweet bit of revenge along the way.
Using a staunch defense and big nights from guards Liz Frame and Sierra Myers, the Falcons raided the Terror Dome on Wednesday for a 41-37 win over Otto-Eldred — the only team that had beaten Coudy entering the contest.
The win cements Coudersport (14-1) ahead of O-E (12-3) in terms of postseason standings for now, and avenges that 38-27 home loss Coudy suffered on Jan. 13.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” Coudersport coach Bob Tingley said. “We got ourselves into a dog fight, and fortunately we were the winning dog.”
The Falcons only trailed once — a 5-4 deficit early in the first quarter — but also never got on enough of a run to put O-E away at any point.
Coudy grabbed a 9-7 lead after the first quarter, before an 8-0 run keyed by Myers put the Falcons ahead 23-14 in the second. Myers scored the first and final buckets of that spurt, and finished the night with 10 points.
Her other big moment came in the fourth quarter, as O-E was rallying. After the Terrors clipped Coudy’s lead to 33-28, Myers dropped another bucket that stemmed O-E’s momentum and gave the Falcons a critical seven-point advantage.
“She can shoot the ball,” Tingley said of the freshman. “We have seven freshmen and sophomores on the bench, and we’ve had enough of the season now that they’re starting to get acclimated.”
O-E stayed within striking distance throughout the second half, coming to within four points at various moments and three points in the game’s waning seconds. Katie Sheeler led the Terrors with a game-high 17 points.
But too many missed opportunities — such as misses under the basket and Coudy offensive rebounds — proved to be costly in the end. Even with Falcon forward and Big 30 All-Star Sarah Chambers sitting for much of the fourth quarter with four fouls, the Terrors couldn’t manage to close the gap.
O-E shot just 12-for-49 in the game, including a 7-for-32 night from inside the arc.
“We missed some shots and gave up a couple offensive rebounds I didn’t care for,” O-E coach Shawn Gray said. “When we couldn’t get it at least tied, I knew we were probably in trouble once she came back in.”
Despite finishing with just seven points, Chambers made her presence known, using her length to disrupt O-E’s offense and grab six rebounds.
The closest O-E came to closing the gap during Chambers’ absence was a five-point differential. Tingley pointed to his team’s collective defense as the key during that stretch.
On the night, Coudersport racked up 15 steals and forced plenty of other O-E turnovers to stymie the Terrors.
“Defense is a pretty high priority for us,” Tingley noted.
Gray added, “They turned it up a little bit. Their defense gives everybody problems, and it gives us issues every once in a while.”
That said, Gray is optimistic moving forward.
“It’s all correctable stuff, and we played our butts off. That’s the best effort we’ve had all year from everybody,” he said. “It was just way too many turnovers and too many point-blank misses… Not only did we miss a lot of easy buckets, but we gave up a ton of runouts. You can’t win that way.”
Those runouts are where Frame did most of her damage. The guard finished with 13 points, the most of any Coudy player.
Now, the teams will head their separate ways. Coudy will visit Northern Potter today, while O-E visits St. Marys on Feb. 22. Though they won’t face off again during the regular season, a postseason rematch seems imminent between the rivals.
“I told the girls coming out before the game, ‘If you don’t think you’ll get punched in the mouth tonight, you should rethink,’” Gray said. “We snapped their league winning streak, and they had something to come in here and play for. Hopefully we see them down the road. It’s always tough to beat someone three times in a year, and now we only have to twice this year.”
AT DUKE CENTER
Coudersport (41)
Elizabeth Frame 6 1-3 13, Sierra Myers 5 0-1 10, Porterfield 2 0-0 4, S. Chambers 2 3-6 7, Page 2 1-2 5, Rigas 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 5-12 41
Otto-Eldred (37)
Katie Sheeler 11 2-2 17, Merry 1 0-0 2, E. Sheeler 1 2-4 4, Raught 1 0-0 2, Dalton 1 0-0 3, K. Heller 1 1-2 4, B. Heller 1 3-6 5. Totals: 12 8-14 37
Coudersport 9 23 33 41
Otto-Eldred 7 19 25 37
Three-point goals: Coudy 0, O-E 5 (K. Sheeler 3, Dalton, K. Heller); Total fouls: Coudy 14, O-E 11; fouled out: None.
