Lady Indians come up short against O.S.
Oneida played Oliver Springs evenly most of the way, but a difficult second quarter would ultimately prove too much to overcome for the Lady Indians.
Trailing just 15-14 after the first quarter, Oneida struggled against an over-achieving Oliver Springs defense in the second period. The Lady Bobcats held the Lady Indians without a field goal in the eight minute span, and Oneida would not score until a pair of free throws with 41 seconds remaining before the intermission.
In the meantime, Oliver Springs had scored 10 straight points to take a 25-14 lead.
Oneida began to rally back in the third quarter. Kelsi Lay, who scored a team-high 15 points, connected on two 3-point shots, the second of which cut the deficit to 27-24 with 5:27 remaining in the third period. But Oliver Springs’ Kelsi Hall knocked down a 3-point shot of her own the next trip down court to build the advantage back to six.
An old-fashioned 3-point play by Lay moments later cut the deficit back to three points, and a bucket by Alex Bond slashed the gap to three (34-31) with under a minute remaining. But Oliver Springs scored five points in the final 4.1 seconds of the first half and Oneida would be unable to get any closer the rest of the way.
In addition to Lay’s 15, Donja Robbins scored 13 for Oneida, while Bond finished with nine and Makenzie Boshears scored three.
Oliver Springs was led by Kayla Christopher’s 17 points.
The Lady Bobcats shot well from the field, hitting on 22 of 43 attempts. Oneida connected on 11 of 38 field goal attempts.
Oliver Springs enters the district tournament, which was to have begun Tuesday, as the #1 team in District 4-A, while Oneida is #3.
The Lady Indians were to have hosted Sunbright on Tuesday. If they were successful in winning that game, they will travel to Coalfield tomorrow (Friday) for a 7 p.m. start. The championship game will be played at 8 p.m. Monday at the gymnasium of the higher-seeded school, while the consolation game will be played at 6 p.m. Monday, also at the gym of the higher-seeded team.