Despite having a strong year, the Lady Terrors couldn’t beat Oswayo Valley in both games played during the regular season. But in Wednesday night’s North Tier League semifinal, they overcame an early deficit to win in overtime 48-40.

“Usually we can’t win against good teams, turning it over like we were,” Otto-Eldred coach Shawn Grey said. “The kids showed some heart.”

To begin the game, neither team could find a bucket in the first couple minutes, but Oswayo Valley all of a sudden started making three pointers. Eva West hit the first two, then Charlotte Austin-Keech added another to make it 9-0 with 4:09 left in the first.

“It was the same thing that has happened to us all three times that we played against them,” Grey said. “We are not nearly as physical as they are on either end, they just locked us up defensively.”

Otto-Eldred got on the board with a layup, but Austin-Keech hit another thre and MaKenna Manning made a mid range shot to push the Green Wave lead to 14-2 to end the quarter.

“Clark is a great coach,” Grey said about Green Wave coach Clark Cummings. “They are one team that I don’t know if we can play harder than them. They have a lot of seniors that are done after this year, and I won’t miss any of them.”

At this point it was fair to wonder if Oswayo Valley just seemed to have the Lady Terrors’ number. But after some hard coaching from Grey that was heard throughout the gym during timeouts, Otto-Eldred found a rhythm in the second quarter.

Senior Carrie Drummond began to assert herself with a layup and a three to open the second. Baylee Francis then hit three free throws after getting fouled on a three, and Rayel Haykes hit a three to close the gap to 14-13 three minutes into the second.

Oswayo Valley stopped the run there, and the two teams started trading buckets. The Green Wave found the edge again in the later minutes of the first half. They scored nine straight points with six coming from West.

Francis got fouled again on another three with one second left before halftime, and she made two of three free throws. There were seven total three-pointers between the two teams as Oswayo Valley led 25-20 at halftime.

OV began the second half with four straight points to get their lead up to eight. The Lady Terrors only got three third quarter points and the Green Wave looked like they were taking the game over with six straight points to end the third to lead 34-23.

The Lady Terrors needed a big fourth quarter performance, and they got it. Drummund and Francis made back-to-back threes to close the gap to 34-29. Seven more Terror points put them ahead with 1:04 left in the game.

Austin-Keech finally stopped the run with 30 seconds left and tied the game with a long mid-range jumper. The Green Wave quickly gained possession again, but they missed a layup. On Otto-Eldred’s last opportunity they got the ball stolen with the half ending.

Drummond continued her strong showing with another three to begin overtime. After four points from Oswayo Valley made the Green Wave lead 40-39, the Lady Terrors took over. They kept getting fouled and made six straight free throws to take a 45-40 lead with 52 seconds left.

“I wasn’t sure at the end of the third quarter if we had any heart at all,” Grey said. “But they did, they showed some heart and a lot of pride.”

Oswayo Valley couldn’t find another bucket, and Otto-Eldred closed the game with a big 48-40 win. Drummond finished as the game’s highest scorer with 18 while Francis added 17. Austin-Keech scored 15 points to lead Oswayo Valley and West had 14.

Otto-Eldred will be playing for the NTL tournament title Friday against Coudersport in Bradford. The Falcons upset league champion Port Allegany 59-41 Wednesday. Otto-Eldred won both games in the regular season.

“Coudy is always a tough matchup,” Grey said. “It’s very difficult to beat a team three times in one year. I know they will be ready for us and they will have a good plan.”

AT DUKE CENTER

OTTO-ELDRED (48)

Bell 0-3-4-3, Drummond 7-0-0-18, Hakes 1-0-2-3, Van Scoter 2-3-6-7, Baylee Francis 2-11-16-17. Totals 12-17-28-48.

OSWAYO VALLEY (40)

Charlotte Austin-Keech 6-1-4-15, Manning 2-3-6-7, Eva West 6-0-0-14, Thompson 2-0-0-4. Totals 16-4-10-40.

Otto-Eldred 2 18 3 13 12

Oswayo Valley 14 11 9 2 4

Three-point goals: O-E 7 (Drummond 4, Hakes 1, Francis 2); OV 4 (Austin-Keech 2, West 2). Total Fouls: O-E 10, OV 23.