McAllister, Cosmos make OV pay the Piper

Springfield’s Chelsea McAllister is hardly a one-woman show. Once again, the Cosmo girls’ all-time leading scorer showed what she can do, racking up a game-high 29 points in her team’s contest at Otter Valley on Friday night.
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Published February 7, 2015 in the Rutland Herald McAllister, Cosmos make OV pay the Piper By JAMIE NORTON Correspondent BRANDON – Springfield’s Chelsea McAllister is hardly a one-woman show. Once again, the Cosmo girls’ all-time leading scorer showed what she can do, racking up a game-high 29 points in her team’s contest at Otter Valley on Friday night. But she had plenty of help in the fourth quarter, as she and her teammates scored more in that frame than Otter Valley did the entire game, and Springfield ran off with a 61-24 victory. It was quite a difference from the last game between these two teams a couple of weeks ago in which the Cosmos eked out the win by a mere three points. Improving on that would be enough incentive for any team. But Springfield (10-8) had a little extra motivation coming into this one. Head coach Joe Brown was in the hospital following an emergency appendectomy earlier in the day, so this one was for him. Assistant coach Gerry Piper was at the helm in Brown’s place. “The kids were motivated tonight – they knew this was an important game,” said Piper, who added that her girls were also aware of their drop in the D-2 standings following a two-game losing streak. “This is our last away game, and so they knew it was important to get the five (index) points and move back up. We want to be in the top eight to have at least the first playoff game at home.” “We struggled against their zone pretty early,” Otter Valley coach Steven Keith said. “Then, in the fourth quarter, their transition was going really well, and they beat us down the court.” It was a slow-starting game on offense for both teams, as the Otters struggled with Springfield’s tight 3-2 zone and the Cosmos themselves weren’t getting many good looks at the hoop either. Only three points were scored through the first four minutes of the contest, but Springfield, having forced the Otters into nine turnovers in the opener, built a 10-3 lead. Springfield opened it up a little bit in the second as Brooke Willey led a 12-5 spurt with two 3-pointers to stretch the lead to as many as 15 points before taking a 23-12 edge into the locker room. The Otters looked to make things interesting early in the third as Laura Beth Roberts hit her second 3-pointer and Amy Jones’ heavily-contested layup pulled the home team to within six, 23-17. But McAllister took things over from there, scoring eight of her team’s 12 points in that stanza as she and her teammates held OV to just one point in the final five minutes. “We felt at halftime, we made a couple quick adjustments on the zone and we had a couple better shots,” Keith said. “Early on (in the second half), we did … When we got it to 23-17, we really thought we were going to be able to come back. Then (Springfield) turned on the transition and the pressure defense. Their zone expanded well in the second half, and we didn’t pass the ball well on the outside. They got a bunch of steals out front that hurt.” “When we had the lead at halftime, (we said), ‘You have a 10-point lead, you don’t lose it,’” Piper said. “Play team ball, play controlled ball; if you have a fastbreak (or) an uncontested layup, we take it. Otherwise, we work it, we work it, and we still have to play defense.” The Cosmos took that to heart, as the offense exploded in the fourth. McAllister led the charge with nine, while Nicole Patterson, who had five steals, netted seven of her nine points in Springfield’s 26-6 finale. Willey was one of four others who found the net in that period, and she finished with 10. “Once they got going, they were really rolling,” Keith said. “Their transition game was working really well for them, and that’s definitely something that hurt us tonight.” According to Piper, McAllister is now just 27 points from Springfield High’s all-time school scoring record. She has two regular-season games — both at home — to tally that total. Her next chance will be Wednesday against Windsor. Brown is expected to be back in time for that one. Laura Beth Roberts led 3-14 Otter Valley with seven points. The Otters are back in action tonight at 6:30 p.m. in a make-up game at Windsor.