DUBOIS — There was no buzzer beater. There was no game-winning shot.
But there was Katie Sheeler.
Cooly, calmly, almost clinical, taking trips to the free throw line with 2:40 and counting on the fourth-quarter clock. Like a basketball machine going 8-for-8 from the stripe in under three minutes time.
Preventing the need for a huge game-winner, because she simply didn’t miss the little ones that gave Otto-Eldred a comeback, 56-51 win, to beat Bishop Canevin and advance to the PIAA Class A quarterfinals for the first time ever.
“She’s just an incredibly tough kid,” beamed O-E coach Shawn Gray. “Tough kids make those shots and she’s one of the toughest that we have. Her basketball ability is just scratching the surface but she’s almost like a savant in a way. She sees things, she knows what’s happening and when she makes a mistake, it’s shocking to me…
“If she’s not the best player in District 9 I don’t know who is.”
There were heroes up and down the roster for O-E.
Carrie Drummond, a freshman getting a start in the second round of the state playoffs, may as well have lit the fuse that led to the Lady Terrors surge to tie up the game in the fourth quarter.
It was Drummond who, on the first possession of the final period, sank a triple that put some pep into the step of her teammates.
“I think everyone’s been a little bit tight,” admitted Gray. “And when you have her (Drummond) coming out in the fourth quarter saying, ‘Hey I’m open and I’m shooting it.’ Everybdoy else is saying, ‘Hey, freshman’s doing it, we’re veterans, we better, too,’ and they did.”
And as O-E started to play looser, the impact was evident, even against District 7 and Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) champ Bishop Canevin. The 3-ball came back to O-E and the passing, especially from Brooke Close, started to give the Lady Terrors more looks. On the ensuing BC play after Drummond’s bank, Sheeler stole the ball and drained a 3-pointer of her own.
After being down 13 at the half and 10 at the end of the third, all of a sudden, O-E was down just four. Rachel Boehm hit a trey for BC to give the Lady Crusaders some more breathing room. But Sheeler found Anna Merry, who knocked down another 3-pointer and cut the deficit down again. As the O-E crowd, led by the boys basketball team, started to get louder and louder.
Sheeler got another steal and a layup to follow to cut the lead to just three points. And then, Drummond banked in another three, bringing the crowd to a fever pitch. After being down double-digits for most of the second and third quarters, the game was tied 46-46 with under four to go.
“She’s gotta call bank though,” grinned Gray. “She’s gotta call bank. Mr. Burris, our AD, called it for her on the second one. That’s kinda why she’s in there, cause she’s more of an offensive threat. And she’s not afraid of the moment.”
The Lady Crusaders were excellent at drawing fouls when they went in for layups.
The team was 14-for-21 overall and 8-for-12 in the first half alone. Mackenzie Huet and Josie Bochicchio combined for nine points in the first half. It was a big reason BC took such a large lead early. It was also why Bri Heller didn’t score till the fourth quarter, because she had two fouls before the first quarter ended.
But in the clutch, she stepped up for O-E, fighting off two BC players, grabbing the rebound on a missed O-E shot and then going right back up to put it through and give the Lady Terrors a 48-46 lead.
“Saddled with fouls in the first half,” said Gray. “Didn’t help us at all, but she played the entire second half and is key to our defense and our rebounding. We don’t win this game without her, that’s for sure.”
After a pair of Sheeler free throws, Ashley Lippold, who led the Lady Crusaders with 12 points and was dangerous all game for BC, got a crucial layup to make it a two-point game.
Both teams fought for possession and refused to let the other take a good shot. But that meant time wound down, and with under 45 seconds left, BC had no choice but to start fouling.
Sheeler took some hard fouls, but it didn’t phase her, comfortably sinking shots from the stripe as the O-E crowd roared and the student section chanted, “Pub-lic school! Pub-lic school!”
The Terror Dome has been full and loud for most of this year, but O-E fans have traveled well too. In Kane against North Clarion, half the gym was proudly blue and gold. Despite an even longer trip to DuBois, two-third of the spectators in the gym were staunchly O-E supporters.
“It’s kind of indescribable,” Gray said while dabbing tears from his eyes. “When you look up and see all those people, you know you’re cared for, that’s for sure. When you win in this community, they come out in droves and they’re always there… Royal blue and gold, that’s how we do it.”
And while the crowd might have been nervous in the first half, in the second half and especially the fourth quarter, the energy and noise made by the fans was palpable from anywhere on the court.
“No question, no question,” chuckled Gray, who at one point waved his arms at the bleachers, hyping up an already excited crowd. “If they’re here, they might as well be really, really loud. I’m losing my voice, other people can lose theirs too… I know that our kids feed off that energy and anything I can do to help them, I’m gonna do.”
For the first time ever, O-E will advance to the PIAA Class A quarterfinals.
“This is as far as any basketball team’s ever been in school history,” said Gray. “I don’t know if that’s what motivated them… What I think it was, was they refused to give in. They refuse to go quietly, all the time, in everything they do… They refuse to lay down for people and just kept swinging. And we connected on a couple this time.”
Otto-Eldred will face District 10 champ, Kennedy Catholic, on Wednesday at Clarion University at 8 p.m.
AT DUBOIS
Sheeler 8 11-11 29, Drummond 5 0-0 13, Merry 3 0-0 7, Close 2 0-0 4, Heller 1 1-2 3
Bishop Canevin (51)Lippold, 4 4-5 12, Boehm 4 2-4 11, Huet 4 2-4 10, Bochicchio 2 5-6 10,Cross 2 1-2 5, Jameson 1 0-0 3
O-E 6 (Drummond 3, Sheeler 2, Merry), BC 3 (Boehm, Bochicchio, Jameson); Total fouls: O-E 15, BC 15; fouled out: None
