Wheaton Academy wins in 2nd OT
To say that Wheaton Academy's Jamie Netzley didn't want her girls basketball season to end is probably an understatement.
The junior guard helped the Warriors (17-10) escape the Class 3A Montini regional semifinal with a 58-55 double-overtime win against Al Raby on Wednesday.
After being down 20-18 at halftime, Netzley came out and had 7 of her team's 16 third-quarter points, all of her team's first overtime points, hit the two final free throws with 39.9 seconds left to push the Warriors' lead to 58-55 and did it all while she was sick.
"That was a fun one," Netzley said after her game-high 24 points. "Didn't really want it to go into overtime, but we really stepped up in the second half because we just didn't like the way we were playing the first half… . I was coughing a lot…, and the headaches were bad at halftime, but once you get in the game with the adrenaline you don't really feel it at all."
Wheaton Academy got out to a bit of an early lead and finished the first quarter up 11-8. Al Raby used its athleticism and overall scrappy play down on the boards to take the lead in the second quarter. The Chicago school led 20-18 at halftime.
The Warriors seemed to come out on a mission early in the third period, quickly retaking the lead with the help of Netzley and senior forward Christina Garrison. They led 34-31 going into the fourth.
Battling back was Morgan Siler and more importantly Sierra Sanders for Al Raby (17-10). Sanders had 10 of her team-high 17 in the second half, with two free throws that tied the game at 38-38 and another game-tying putback to make it 40-40.
After a turnover from Wheaton Academy in the final possession the game headed to overtime.
Netzley's 7 points in the first overtime was enough in the end, but not without a little scare when Siler went to the free-throw line with 4.1 seconds left and the game tied 47-47. She missed both free throws to send the game into a second overtime period.
A big 3-pointer from Elizabeth Melby was a backbreaker for Al Raby, according to Wheaton Academy coach Beth Mitchell, and Melby followed it up with three drained free throws after getting fouled from behind the arc to take a 56-54 lead.
"It really comes down to hitting a couple more baskets than they did," Mitchell said. "They beat us on the boards. I thought we had a really hard time defending their athleticism on the boards. We have to be better than that."
Wheaton Academy will play host Montini at 7 p.m. Friday in the regional final. The Broncos defeated Wells 86-18.