Devils outlast Chiefs
POTSDAM — OFA senior guard Megan Morrison said she had never played in a game where the defense on both sides was so intense.
OFA coach Mark Henry called Morrison's 27-point performance one of the most efficient scoring efforts he had ever seen. The Devils' ability to play intense defense for the entire 32 minutes and Morrison's ability to make key offensive plays carried OFA (17-5) to a remarkable 46-44 win over Saranac Central of Section 7 in the Class B first round of the state girls basketball tournament Tuesday night at SUNY Potsdam.
"Our defense was very strong tonight. We did a good job going from a 1-3-1 to a 2-3 to stop their 3-pointers," said OFA guard Chelsea Martin who played her way through constant foul trouble to contribute to a defensive effort that limited Saranac to 17-for-52 shooting and four points in the fourth quarter.
"I get in foul trouble sometimes but I haven't fouled out yet," said Martin, who added three steals. "I was a little cautious but I always want to stay aggressive."
Both teams aggressively coped with foul trouble in the game, which featured a crunch time where every loose ball, rebound, tie-up, and instance where the ball was protected against a double-team turned in a very significant play.
The game climaxed in fitting fashion for the Devils after the Chiefs' Katie McCasland controlled a pass from outside of halfcourt from Becca Horton and converted a layup to tie the score at 44-44 with 7.2 seconds to play. The layup answered a two-point lead created by a Lindsay Drummond free throw with 13 seconds to play.
After the Chiefs came extremely close to a steal, Morrison raced downcourt and was fouled on a pull-up jumper with four-tenths of a second to play.
"This was such a great game and I was so happy that I had a chance to take a shot like that at the end," said Morrison, who cooly sank the two ensuing foul shots that lifted the 15-8 Devils into a quarterfinal game against Watervliet, a 31-27 winner over Mechanicville in the Section 2 finals.
OFA will play at noon Saturday at Hudson Valley Community College. The winner returns to Hudson Valley the following weekend to play in the state semifinals.
"Mackenzie Cole was all over the boards and everyone on our team was just making big plays. It was so amazing," Morrison said.
Morrison's decisive free throws completed a 9-for-11 night at the foul line, 8-for-11 shooting from the floor, 2-for-3 3-point shooting and several daring drives through heavy traffic.
She added a 19-point first half, three assists, three steals and one huge tie-up late in the game against Saranac center Stephanie Linder under the basket with the possession arrow favoring the Devils.
Cole finished with a nine-points on 4-for-8 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds for the Devils.
"Megan Morrison came through with an extremely efficient 27-point effort," Henry said. "It was a great win which was so hard to describe because everybody came up key little plays. We had to make adjustments because of foul trouble."
The Blue Devils rallied from a 40-37 deficit and then came up with a series of defensive stops late in the game.
"And our bench gave us a lift," Henry said. "Nichole Damms goes in at the end of the first half, gets a rebound which led to Megan (Morrison) hitting a 3-pointer. Rosie Giglio (5 rebounds) gave us some big rebounds and hit a shot which will really needed in the third quarter."
In the third quarter, the Chiefs collapsed their man-to-man around Morrison and took a 40-35 margin, led by Mychelle Favreau, who scored seven of her 14 points in the quarter.
Explosive guard Megan Bowman tallied eight points and passed out four assists, Linder grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and scored six points, and McCasland finished with seven points for the Chiefs (17-5).
"Saranac is a very good team and Megan Bowman is the real deal," said Morrison who anchored a 14-for-32 shooting night for the Devils.
