Rising Sun girls basketball coach Kathy Stoudt succinctly summed up her team's 52-45 triumph over visiting Bohemia Manor Friday night. "I thought we survived, Put it that way" she said. The Tigers (2-0) overcame an injury to Lexi Osborne and fought off a fourth quarter rally to down the feisty Eagles. Rising Sun led 43-30 entering the fourth quarter but saw that seemingly comfortable cushion whittled down to two. Bo Manor cut the deficit down to 46-43 on a Kaitlyn Morse basket with 2:41 remaining. After a Tiger turnover, the Eagles missed two shots but got a pair of offensive rebounds. Morse was fouled and hit a free throw to make it 46-44 with 2:17 left. Rising Sun sophomore guard Paige Bradford then hit a clutch jumper to extend the lead back to four with 2:03 left. Any chance the Eagles had dissipated when coach Jazmen White was called for a technical foul with 1:46 to go. Brooke Bower made one free throw and Bradford added another to give the Tigers a 50-44 edge.
Rising Sun suffered a big blow midway through the first quarter when Osborne was inured and did not return. "Oh gosh. I thought we were done," Bower said. "I was really upset but we all kind of came together and played for her and won for her." The Tigers led 27-18 at halftime and upped the margin to 13 in the third quarter behind the play of Bradford and Courtney Spangler. "We have a lot of girls that stepped up this game," said Bower. "Paige Bradford, she scored a lot that I wasn't expecting. She's new [to varsity]. She did really well." Even trailing by 13 entering the fourth quarter, the Eagles didn't crumble. "I was getting a little nervous," Bower said. "They were excited and we couldn't match their intensity but we still saved the lead." The Tigers struggled on the defensive boards and protecting the ball. "Horrible," Rising Sun coach Kathy Stoudt said. "We were getting beat. We weren't showing our athleticism that we normally show. I give (the Bo Manor coach White) credit. I knew they had five returning starters so I knew they weren't going to be easy. So I give them credit. They're going to beat some teams this year, that's for sure. But, yeah, we have to adjust to our personnel." Bower paced the Tigers with 21 points and 17 steals. Bradford finished with 15 points and Spangler supplied 11. "Lexi going down really hurt us," Stoudt said. "It just killed us. Plus, we had Alexa Webber out who is our outside shooter, who I probably would've utilized a lot against their zone. She's out with a sprained ankle. But for the first time playing varsity, Paige Bradford and Courtney Spangler, they really came through and made some keys plays down the end. You're talking about a close game and their second game on the varsity level. And as young as we are, I thought we survived. Put it that way." Osborne was diagnosed with a fractured fibula and is expected to be out at least a month, Stoudt said Friday morning. "It's a big loss for us, but we'll plug Paige into the starting spot. After her 15-point performance (against Bo Manor), we know she'll do great." Comments are closed.
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