Sidney junior forward Kelis McNeal looks to pass with pressure from Bath’s Faith Clark during a nonconference game on Monday in Sidney.
Bryant Billing | Sidney Daily News
SIDNEY — Bath’s girls basketball team withstood a late run by Sidney to win in overtime, 69-65, on Monday night.
Sidney battled back from an eight-point deficit to force overtime and later took the lead, but the Wildkittens took control in the last two minutes.
The Yellow Jackets led throughout the first half but had difficulty trying to slow the Wildkittens in the second. Bath took an eight-point lead by the end of the third quarter, but Sidney battled back and tied it 61-61 to force overtime.
Sidney took a 65-64 lead in overtime but didn’t score over the last two-and-a-half minutes.
But the Yellow Jackets didn’t score again, and Bath took control by drawing fouls. Annie Oliver split a pair of free throws to tie it, Izzy McDermott made two foul shots to give the Wildkittens a 67-65 lead and later made another pair to secure the victory.
Claire Foust led Bath with 22 points, all but two of which came in the second half. McDermott scored 19, and Oliver scored 13.
While either leading or in a tie, Sidney went three consecutive possessions in which it forced a shot within 10 seconds and didn’t get an offensive rebound.
“We’ve got to be better with the lead down the stretch, handle the end-of-the-game scenario better,” Sidney coach Jamal Foster said. “… But hindsight is 20/20. This helped us grow. This type of game, it’s not the type of outcome we desired, but they battled. They played well enough to win it.”
Sidney junior guard Jordan Scully led the Yellow Jackets with a career-high 37 points. She scored 11 in the fourth quarter (including three 3-pointers) to help the squad rally.
Sidney junior guard Larkyn Vordemark scored 11 points on Monday. Vordemark made three free throws with no time left in regulation on Monday to send the game to overtime.
Scully had a potential game-tying 3 blocked, but Vordemark came away with the ball on the right wing and was fouled trying to shoot as time expired.
Her first free throw was nothing-but-net and her second and third rattled in to tie the score and force overtime.
Bath (3-0) trailed 25-21 at halftime but quickly took the lead in the third. Foust, who sat on the bench in foul trouble most of the first half, scored nine points to help lead a 23-11 scoring edge in the quarter that gave the Wildkittens a 44-36 lead.
But Scully made a 3 to start the fourth, then made a layup after a steal to cut the gap to 44-41. After a basket by Foust, junior forward Kelis McNeal made a shot in the post and a free throw after being fouled to cut the gap to 46-44.
Sidney was within a few points the rest of the way until Vordemark tied it at the end of regulation.
Reach Bryant Billing at 937-538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.
