Lady Indians fall by one in defensive battle
Having surprised District 4-A’s second place team in its most recent conference outing, Oneida had an opportunity to do the same to the district’s #3 team on Friday night at OHS Gymnasium.
Instead, the Lady Indians came up just short against Oakdale, falling 33-32 in a defensive battle.
Oneida had fallen behind by as many as eight points late in the third quarter, but rallied in the fourth quarter and grabbed the lead on a shot by Alex Bond with 1:20 remaining.
A free throw by Oakdale’s Morgan Byrge with 15.8 seconds remaining would prove to be the difference, as the Lady Eagles survived the tight contest.
Oakdale’s Shanna O’Dell led all scorers with 12 points and made life tough on the boards for Oneida — the Lady Eagles outrebounded the Lady Indians 31-18.
But Oneida used a stiff defensive effort to neutralize Oakdale’s advantage inside, forcing the Lady Eagles into 18 turnovers.
Leading 29-24 heading into the fourth quarter, Oakdale decided to start running out the clock with just under six minutes remaining. The strategy did not work, however, as Oneida forced a couple of turnovers and trimmed the deficit. Donja Robbins scored to cut the gap to three (29-26) with 3:33 remaining, followed by a pair of free throws from Jilliane Sexton to cut the deficit to one (30-29) with 2:46 left to play.
After Sexton connected on another free throw to tie the game with 1:40 remaining, Oneida forced a missed shot and got the ball to Bond, who scored two of her team-high 11 points to put the Lady Indians in front 32-30.
Following another missed shot by Oakdale, the Lady Indians had the ball with under a minute remaining, but the Lady Eagles forced a turnover, which led to a game-tying shot by Rachel Ruppe with 36 seconds remaining.
After Oneida failed to score, Byrge connected on one of two free throws with 15.8 seconds remaining to provide the winning point for Oakdale.
The Lady Indians finished the game 10 of 35 from the field and eight of 13 from the free throw line, while Oakdale finished 10 of 29 from the field and 10 of 18 from the line.
The loss dropped Oneida to 4-5 in district play, and left the Lady Indians in a tie with Coalfield for fourth place in the district standings. The Lady ‘Jackets will wrap up their district schedule this week against Oakdale, while the Lady Indians conclude regular season play tomorrow (Friday) night at Oliver Springs.
SCORING: Oneida — Bond 11, Sexton 10, Love 4, K. Lay 3, N. Lay 2, Robbins 2.
Oakdale — O’Dell 12, Pease 8, Ruppe 7, Byrge 6.