Team effort carries Cosmos to thrilling win

Girls basketball, Brandon at Springfield.

www.eagletimes.com    

2016-02-05 / Sports Team effort carries Cosmos to thrilling win over Otter Valley By TIM TAYLOR sports@eagletimes.com Springfield's Brooke Willey puts up a shot over against a pair of Otter Valley defenders. — TIM TAYLOR Springfield's Brooke Willey puts up a shot over against a pair of Otter Valley defenders. — TIM TAYLOR SPRINGFIELD — If you had to pick just one MVP in Springfield's 45-41 victory Otter Valley Thursday night, you'd probably be met with a few jeers. Brooke Willey scored a game-high 13 points and nailed a pair of key free throws late in the game. Ari Rowe knocked down a couple of big field goals to put the Cosmos back into the lead at the half and the end of the third quarter. In addition to those two seniors, freshman Hannah Crosby also connected on some big foul shots and junior Cassidy Otis came up with some monster plays in the final minute. In other words, this victory was all about teamwork. “I think it was a hard-fought win,” said Springfield coach Joe Costello. “I think there's two teams in that game who are both fighting every day to get better, and I have a lot of pride for my girls tonight and I have a lot of respect for their girls. I think both teams put it all on there on the line and really competed. It's a fun game to coach and be a part of. “There's a lot of teachable moments that come out of this as well. There's things that we're going to address tomorrow in practice, but it's easier to address those after a win.” “It was amazing to win,” said Willey, “especially [after] going there and finishing with four players and losing by eight in overtime. It felt good to win.” Crosby, who went 5-for-6 at the charity stripe, hit a pair of free throws with 2:22 remaining to give Springfield the lead for good at 40-38. With 33.8 seconds to go, Willey added two more free throws to make it 42-38, and Crosby notched one last one with 12.9 seconds to play to make it 43-41. During the final minute of play, Otis contributed in multiple ways. She knocked a ball away and saved it from going out of bounds with 36 seconds left, setting up the Willey trip to the line. Then she snagged a rebound on a missed foul shot with 19 seconds remaining and dished to Crosby, who also drew a foul. Finally, after Rowe deflected Crosby's one missed free throw away from an Otter Valley player, Otis would score the game's final basket and give the Cosmos a 45-41 advantage with eight ticks on the clock. It was Otis's only points of the evening, but they did ice the win. “I was really proud of Hannah for hitting her free throws, especially since she's Springfield's Ari Rowe works the ball against Otter Valley. — TIM TAYLOR Springfield's Ari Rowe works the ball against Otter Valley. — TIM TAYLOR a freshman,” Willey said. “She stepped up a lot in these past games. Ari, it's Ari. She fights for the ball. And Otis, she was just really strong with the ball and got it to the guards.” “We had a lot of different types of contributions from a lot of different players,” said Costello. “I think with a lot of teams, not just mine, but a lot of teams, they look at the paper and they see the scorers column. But what we try to focus on, at least internally, are the small things, the block-out, the tip, the held basketball, all those things that we talk about, but might not make a newspaper. “And I love the contributions I got from Cassidy, and a player like Ari. She's turning herself into a pretty good basketball player. She's someone who has a little foot quickness for a forward, who can face up and take someone off the bounce, and I don't think she's realized she has that ability until lately. That coming on has been a real boost for our team. We get our energy contributions from Brooke and Lizzie every day. They're constants. A full five on the court, same type of effort, is what we've been working towards all year and we're starting to get there.” The exciting finish didn't look like it was part of the script when the game started as Springfield opened the contest with a 10-0 run, scoring eight of those points off Otter turnovers. The Cosmos would lead 15-4 heading into the second period, but their offense went cold and Otter Valley chipped away at the lead. The Otters eventually moved in front, 16-15, on a pair of free throws from Courtney Bushey with 26.4 seconds left in the half. It wouldn't last long as Emily Therrien took a pass in the corner, then dished off to Rowe, who canned a 12-foot jumper at the buzzer to put Springfield up 17-16 at the break. “We're at our most dangerous when we're playing fast,” Costello said. “That is our strategy and it was very successful to start the game. They made some good adjustments in that second quarter and almost had a mirror image of our first for their second. They slowed the game down. I think they did a better job that quarter of controlling tempo and we needed to getb back to those faster way in the second half. We did to an extent, but it was nip-and-tuck the rest of the game.” A Willey 3-pointer, followed by two Aunna Parker free throws, gave the Cosmos their biggest lead of the second half, 26-22, with 3:10 left in the third. Springfield matched the four-point margin two more times, but could never extend it beyond that. Back-to-back baskets by Rowe and Willey in the final 1:29 of the quarter made it 30-26 heading into the fourth. And there were the four free throws Willey and Crosby connected on in the final period that made it 42-38, but those were countered by Lexi Hedding's 3-pointer that made it a one-point game in the final 30 seconds. Free throw shooting turned out to be an essential part of the victory as well. While the Otters made 55 percent of their attempts (12-for-22), Springfield only hit with 47-percent accuracy (9-for-19), however, the Cosmos outscored their guests 7-4 at the stripe in the final period. In addition to Willey's 13 points, Crosby scored nine, Diamond Bruso eight, Lizzie Mackenzie seven and Rowe six. Gabriela Poalino led the Otters with 13 points, Amy Jones had nine, Hedding seven and Maia Edmunds six. Springfield (5-11) visits Windsor (7-8) on Wednesday. JV: Springfield's press forced a turnover on the inbound pass and Saby Hernandez scored with eight seconds left to give the Cosmos a 28-27 victory.