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Oswego East outlasts Bartlett in overtime

With all the snow that fell Saturday it was easy to get confused whether it was November 21 or January 21.

Bartlett and Oswego East's girls basketball teams also made knowing what month it is confusing with the level of play Saturday at the 2015 Tip-Off Tournament at Benet.

Neither team could pull away in a back-and-forth battle that seemed more like a postseason do-or-die contest than the Hawks' second game of the year.

The teams needed overtime to settle things. Oswego East junior Ty Battle took over late, scoring 6 points in the extra session leading the Wolves to a 51-46 victory.

"I told them this was a late February game in mid-November," Bartlett coach Dave Mello said. "Nothing to be ashamed of. I hate losing, everyone hates losing, but in February a game like this is going to pay off. We're going to run into teams like this."

The biggest lead for either team was 6 points - and that came when the Hawks scored the first six of game. The teams fought through 14 lead changes and 9 ties.

Oswego East (3-0) has an imposing front line of Sydney Schultz, Battle and Boatright, but the Hawks didn't back down.

"It was like an older game, it was pretty physical," Wolves coach Abe Carretto said. "We can handle those things. It took us awhile to get used to it. When you have three good-sized posts usually teams don't push you around. I liked that Bartlett was really aggressive and intense and it gave us a wake-up call that you have to step up and use your size to your advantage."

Bartlett (1-1) played through foul problems all afternoon, and they started early. Both Kaitlin Brohan and Nichole Gerdevich picked up their second fouls midway through the first quarter, then each got called for their third foul in the second quarter and again took a seat.

Gerdevich left the game in the third quarter to get checked for a possible concussion. She returned only to foul out, as did 6-foot-1 Kelly Harris.

"I'm not making any excuses," Mello said. "We showed we can go toe-to-toe with all that foul trouble. A lot of our core people didn't get their normal minutes."

Brohan was held scoreless in the first half in her limited minutes. Shelley Lyjak hit a 3-point basket in the closing seconds of the first quarter for a 10-8 Bartlett lead; the Wolves went to halftime up 20-19 after Battle's bucket to end the second quarter - a lead that could have been bigger if not for 6 straight missed free throws in the final 30 seconds.

Brohan returned to the court in the third quarter and caught fire, scoring 7 of Bartlett's 11 points to keep the Hawks within 31-30 going to the fourth.

Trailing 37-34 with four minutes left, Brohan scored on a drive and then split free throws to tie the game at 37 with 2:24 left. Brohan again drove for a basket at the 1:33 mark, putting the Hawks up 39-37.

Battle answered with a 3-point play, drawing Gerdevich's fifth foul, for a 40-39 Wolves lead with 1:21 left. Mariah Martinez tied the game with a free throw, and Bartlett had a chance to win the game at the buzzer but Lyjak's runner just missed.

"I thought it was going to be backboard and right through," Mello said.

Battle, who scored 9 of her game-high 17 points in the final 5 minutes, quickly put the Wolves ahead in overtime. Martinez made 2 of 4 free throws to tie it, and after another Battle putback, Kayla Hare swished a 3-pointer with 2:10 left for a 45-44 Bartlett lead - its final one.

The Wolves went ahead on Jesinde Thomas' driving layup. After a Wolves free throw, Brohan had a 3-pointer at that could have tied the game rim out. Battle's final 2 free throws sealed the outcome.

"We finally got the ball in spots we needed to and got good looks that were layups or near the hoop," Carretto said. "Defensively we got the one or two stops and that was huge."

Neither team shot well at the line, the Hawks 12 of 22 and the Wolves 14 for 30.

Hare and Lyjak both added 9 points. Brohan pulled down 11 rebounds and had 4 steals as the Hawks stayed within 41-37 on the boards against the taller Wolves.

"One of the last things we told them in the locker room was this was going to be a street fight," Mello said. "I live in Oswego, I know Oswego East especially with the talent they have, I knew what to expect going in. Today was a valuable lesson for us. We can be as good as anyone."

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