Thasavong, Burlington down Batavia in OT
The Burlington Central girls basketball team dominated the boards most of the night Thursday.
The Rockets' Brenda Thasavong grabbed two of the most important offensive rebounds in overtime, leading to 5 points and helping Central to a 50-45 nonconference victory over Batavia at Central.
"The passion in me just fired me up," Thasavong said. "I put everything out on the floor."
With the Rockets (12-6) down by 1, 42-41, with 1:15 left in overtime, Thasavong rebounded a Araceli Munoz miss. Thasavong scored on the putback and was fouled. The sophomore hit the free throw to give Central a 44-42 lead.
The game was tied 44-44 with 37.5 seconds remaining. Ali Settanni hit the first of two free throws. She missed the second, but again Thasavong came down with the offensive rebound and putback for a 47-44 lead.
Jordan Maisto hit a pair of free throws and Thasavong added another in the final 20 seconds to seal the victory for the Rockets, who outrebounded the Bulldogs 34-23.
"Brenda is the most improved player on this team," Rockets coach Stehpanie Smith said. "She has a lot of heart. She can jump through the gym."
Batavia (7-9) forced overtime by rallying from a 9-point halftime deficit, 29-20. The Bulldogs held Central to just 10 points in the third and fourth quarters to send the game into overtime tied at 39-39.
The Bulldogs took their first lead, 39-37, with 38 seconds remaining in the fourth after a Sara Fruendt steal and layup. central senior Taylor Colby nailed two free throws with 20.4 seconds left to tie the game 39-39. Fruendt, who injured her right ankle in the second quarter, but was able to return, missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 3 seconds left. A traveling call gave the Bulldogs the ball with 1.3 seconds left. Maddie Sychta got a shot off, but tight defense from Settanni caused a miss.
"We picked up the pace a little bit (in the second half)," Batavia coach Tim DeBruycker said. "They were mostly playing five girls. We thought we could attack and push the ball a little. Be a little more aggressive, especially on the defensive end."
Fruendt led Batavia with 15 points. Sychta added 8.
Thasavong finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Colby added 14 points and 6 rebounds. Maisto had 13, 11 in the first half.
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