ORONO, Maine — The girls from Orono High School and Central High School of Corinth provided the onlookers at the Orono High School gym with an absorbing pre-Christmas treat on Monday night.
There were plot twists galore and, in the end, sophomore Brinsley Chasse’s baseline jumper tied it with 20 seconds left and set the stage for her game-winning foul shot eight seconds later to give Orono a double-overtime 60-58 triumph.
Emily Smith’s two free throws with 32 seconds remaining provided Central (3-2) with a 58-56 lead but Chasse’s 10-foot jumper off a Katelyn Richards pass tied it.
“I thought Katelyn was going to drive the lane but we made eye contact,” said Chasse. “I just tried to make sure I got enough arc on my shot. Those baseline shots are tough (to make).”
Seconds later, Chasse stole a deflected pass and was fouled. She missed her first one but made the second.
“We work on free throws a lot in practice,” said Chasse.
Central missed a contested layup and Orono’s Katie Sypher pulled down the rebound before being fouled.
She sank one of two foul shots with four seconds left and Central called a timeout. But the youthful Red Devils, with two freshmen and two sophomores among their starting five, weren’t able to get off a shot at the final buzzer.
“We won the game four times and we lost it four times,” said Central coach Diane Rollins. “We didn’t execute. We had a lot of young kids on the court.”
Central standout center Bre Skolfield, playing with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee, had fouled out in the fourth quarter.
“We did really well,” said Skolfield, who finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
“At the end of the game, we played smart. We took good shots. Everybody is capable of scoring for us,” said Sypher, who wound up with 14 points and five rebounds.
“Our defensive pressure got to them,” said Orono junior guard Hannah Clement, who poured in a game-high 22 points despite being double-teamed and having someone in her face all night.
The 5-foot-3 Clement also grabbed five important second half-rebounds. She wound up with six rebounds and three steals for the 4-1 Red Riots.
Clement hit two free throws with 10 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.
She had hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to tie it 45-45 before Libby Cook’s turnaround six-foot jumper gave Central a 47-45 lead with 12 seconds left.
Chasse’s free throw with 14 seconds remaining in overtime gave the Riots a 52-50 lead but dynamic freshman guard Sydney Allen responded with a driving layup to tie it with two seconds to play.
Central had used a 10-point run to build a 32-20 lead in the third quarter with Allen sinking two free throws and hitting a 3-pointer.
But Orono answered by scoring the next 11 points with sophomore Hannah Steelman accounting for nine of them on a pair of 3-pointers and three free throws.
Orono coach Jessica Witham said Steelman’s contribution was huge.
“She had been swinging between JV and varsity and hadn’t played a lot (for the varsity). But we needed her because Central had a big lineup,” said Witham. “We have a lot of different weapons.”
Steelman is 5-6 and most of Orono’s guards are under 5-4.
Steelman ended up with 11 points, four rebounds and two assists. Richards contributed five points.
Orono forced a number of turnovers throughout the game with its full-court press but the taller Red Devils did a nice job in their half-court offense. Central also worked hard on defense and made Clement earn all of her points.
Point guard Allen scored a team-high 17 points and also had three rebounds and two steals. She also played a strong floor game while dealing with Orono’s relentless pressure.
Libby Cook had nine points, eight rebounds and three assists for the Devils.
Smith wound up with five rebounds, three assists and three steals to go with three points.
Natasha Miller had six points off the bench and Emma Campbell had five points and six rebounds.
JV: Central 36-33