McAllister leads Springfield to 42-41 win over Twin Valley

When Chelsea McAllister was playing middle school basketball, there was already talk about what a great future she would have when she got to high school.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20120131/SPORTS/701319872

Published January 31, 2012 in the Rutland Herald
McAllister leads Springfield to 42-41 win over Twin Valley

By POODY WALSH
Correspondent

SPRINGFIELD — When Chelsea McAllister was playing middle school basketball, there was already talk about what a great future she would have when she got to high school.

She officially arrived Monday night as she scored 22 points, including two free throws with 24.1 seconds left, to lead Springfield to a much-needed 42-41 win over Twin Valley.

While those two free throws would eventually be the game-winning points, the game was not quite over. Twin Valley moved the ball to the frontcourt and took a timeout with 18.7 seconds left. The Wildcats showed some patience, but perhaps too much as Bit Aekus was forced to take a long shot from the side with two seconds left. The shot was short.

“I would have died if that had gone in,” the 14-year-old McAllister said.

The win ended a four-game losing streak for Springfield and gave some relief to coach Joe Brown, who watched his team win their first six games and then hit the skids for awhile

“This was a pick-me-up game,” said Brown, whose team at one time was behind 20-9. “It was nice to come back.”

Twin Valley came into the game with a 7-4 record and winners of three of their last four. However, the Wildcats missed five of what could have been game-deciding free throws in the last 2:21.

“We basically blew it,” Twin Valley coach Buddy Hayford said. “The free throw line has been killing us all year. We practice our free throws all the time. Maybe we should stop practicing those shots.”

It was an uphill fight for the Cosmos all night. They took a 2-0 lead in the first seven seconds and never led again until McAllister made the two free throws with 24.1 seconds to go.

Springfield trailed 38-31 with 4:34 to play. At this point ,senior Liza Fontaina hit a game-changing 3-pointer to make it 38-34. Senior Jenna Paul followed with a one-hander and the Cosmos got even closer at 38-36. Savannah Nesbitt hit one free throw to get Twin Valley back up by three, 39-36. Abi Cox answered for Springfield and it was a 39-38 Twin Valley lead with 3:07 to play.

Aekus increased the Twin Valley lead to 41-38 on a drive. However, it was at this point that Twin Valley started to miss at the line and when Springfield senior Sarah Gray hit a short one-hander with 2:21 to play, it was a one-point game at 41-40. Then came three missed Wildcat free throws and it eventually cost them as McAllister made both of hers and Springfield held on.

“Oh, my gosh I’m so excited,” said McAllister, her face scarlet. “My heart is beating so fast.”

While Springfield was enduring the four-game losing streak, the Cosmos were dealing with injuries as Morgan Johnson was out with a messed-up wrist and Jill Rushton was sidelined with a medical problem. Johnson returned Monday but saw only limited duty.

But Brown was not making any excuses for the losing streak.

“Some of it was the opponents we played, but most of it was just the way we played,” he said.

Springfield scored 11 points in the third quarter, all by McAllister including a kind of crazy over-the-top-of-the-head shot as she came out from under the basket and just tossed it in.

Fontaine also had double-digit game with 10 points.

Nesbitt was a threat all night for the Wildcats with an 18-point game. She is just a sophomore. Twin Valley has been without sophomore guard Jordan Niles since she broke her wrist in the Green Mountain Holiday Tournament.

Springfield goes to Bellows Falls on Thursday while Leland and Gray comes to Twin Valley the same night.