In Double Overtime, A Determined Victory

On Thursday night, a determined Sleepy Hollow girls varsity basketball team showed they have the drive and determination to make a solid showing in the post-season.

The Lady Horsemen overcame a feisty Woodlands High School team, 57-50, in a thrilling double-overtime game full of twists and turns.

"The girls played inspired basketball tonight," Head Coach Nick Romeo said. "I am proud to be associated with them."

This was the third match pitting Sleepy Hollow against the Woodlands Falcons. In the first match, Sleepy Hollow lost by 8 points; in the second they lost by over 20 points.

But this game was different. It was the final regular-season game for the Lady Horsemen, a crucial game before the start of playoffs, and an important milestone for seniors on the team who are finishing their final season.

"We really wanted to win this one for the seniors," junior Kerry Oliveira said. "We knew what Woodlands were going to do and we had to stay calm, stay collected and do our best, and we did great. It was probably our best game this season."

The first quarter started off rocky for Sleepy Hollow. Woodlands was fast out of the gate and took an early lead, seeming to out maneuver and outpace the Horsemen down the court.

Two free throws by Oliveira capped off the first quarter with Sleepy Hollow trailing 9-12.

The second quarter saw the Lady Horsemen go on an offensive assault. Senior guard Brionna Gamble tied the game at 16 apiece when she sank a three-point shot in the second minute.

Woodlands bounced back and took the lead again, but senior Kelly Bender tied it up with an inside two-point shot in response.

In the fifth minute, Jamie Bucci brought the lead to Sleepy Hollow for the first time with a two-point shot that took the team up 20-18.

Solid free throw shooting by senior Tauress Campbell, 3 points off of steals and a three-point shot by Bucci put Sleepy Hollow up 30-24 at half time. In all, Sleepy Hollow scored 21 points in the second quarter.

The Woodlands Falcons scored 12 points in both quarters and had a total of 10 fouls in the half which the Lady Horsemen took advantage of by sinking 10 points from the line.

The third quarter was hard fought defensively. Each team only allowed 6 points to maintain the same six-point gap there was at the half.

However, in the fourth quarter, Woodlands fired back and tied the game at 40 apiece in the fifth minute. 

Sleepy Hollow almost lost a key senior player in the fourth quarter. With roughly four minutes left to play, Campbell fell to the court, gripping her ankle and yelling in noticeable pain.

"The girl stepped on one side of my foot; it cracked and it went over," Campbell said.

After a few minutes Campbell was helped off the court to the crowd's applause. Her status was questionable as she was examined on the bench.

Campbell is Sleepy Hollow's strongest inside defender and rebounder. Being out for the rest of the game could have easily given Woodlands the chance to take the lead in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

"Of course I was worried," Romeo said. "She's our best player and anytime you see your best player down you get worried and a little nervous."

After being checked out, Campbell returned with the game tied and 1:39 remaining on the clock.

"I put myself back in, I wanted to play for my team," she said.

With 15 seconds remaining in the game, Bucci was fouled and went to the line sinking both shots to put Sleepy Hollow up 44-42.

On Woodlands' desperate drive down the court to tie or win the game, Sleepy Hollow deflected the ball out of bounds with 11 seconds left on the clock. Woodlands hatched a plan during a timeout and were able to make an inside layup that tied the game with three seconds. The Lady Horsemen couldn't get the ball down court to avoid overtime.

After the break, Gamble scored first in overtime with a sweet layup on a breakaway. Woodlands then scored 4 points and Campbell evened out the game again with 2 points from the free throw line to make the score 48-48.

Woodlands drew a foul and had the chance to win the game with a one-shot free throw attempt with 9.8 seconds left on the clock, but the shot hit the rim and went out of bounds, sending the game into its second overtime.

Both Bender and Gamble fouled out in the first overtime and had to watch their teammates fight against an emboldened Woodlands offense.

"Not being out there with my team was really bothering me," Gamble said. "This one was a nail biter and I really wanted to be out there."

Senior Charlotte Frank came into the game and contributed solid defense to help quell the Woodlands offense.

The game went into the second overtime with both teams trading points for the first two minutes. However, after an Oliveira two-point jump shot, Sleepy Hollow took the lead and kept it for the remainder of the game, eventually tacking on another 5 points to finish 57-50.

"It was a really intense game," Frank said. "I think we won because we got a lot of rebounds. We had a really good defensive game."

Sleepy Hollow was led in scoring by Oliveira (19 points), Campbell (15 points), Gamble (12 points) and Bucci (7 points).

With the victory, the Lady Horsemen end their season with a 10-8 record and are now eagerly waiting to see who they will face in the first round of the playoffs. Those announcements will be made next week.

"I don't know the last time the girls basketball program had 10 wins," Romeo said. "It's nice to see the seniors get rewarded with a hard-fought, team win."