Storm hangs on to top Sherrard
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MANLIUS — So far so good for the Storm.
Bureau Valley picked up its third-straight win of the young basketball season, as they outlasted a game Sherrard squad 46-41 to capture the first ever Bureau Valley Holiday Tournament Championship Friday night in Manlius.
“It was very special,” said Storm senior Lauren Hasbrook, who led BV with 13 points on the evening. “Last year we always got to the championship games, but we could never win them. This year we’re setting our goals to win every championship game we’re in.”
The Storm started the fourth quarter with an eight-point, 34-26, lead that Sherrard managed to whittle down using full-court pressure as the clock ticked down the final four minutes. Sherrard drew within four, 43-39, on a three from Kelly Hornick from the top of the key with 1:15 to play.
Bureau Valley responded on the inbound by launching a long pass downcourt to senior Meghan Mussche, whose layup gave the Storm some breathing room at 45-39.
A pair of free throws from Hornick drew Sherrard back within four, 45-41 with 14 seconds to play, but it was too little, too late as Mussche added another free throw down the stretch to seal the victory at 46-41 for BV.
“I wasn’t that nervous, I had three seniors out on the floor at that point, and they have a lot of varsity basketball experience,” said Storm Coach Jeff Ohlson. “We stepped up and made a couple free throws, took care of the ball, got the ball when we needed to, and won the game.”
“I thought our inexperience showed, we have a very young team this year,” said Sherrard coach Becky Ince. “We’ve got to take care of the ball better, we did some things defensively that are not part of our system, so we’ve got to continue getting better at that.”
Trailing by seven, 21-14 with just over two minutes left until halftime, the Storm staged a nine-point rally to close out the half up two, 23-21.
“I told them they were going to see some adversity,” said Ohlson. “They responded and got the lead back before halftime, that was big.”
The Storm continued that momentum into the third quarter, outscoring Sherrard 11-5 to stake an eight-point, 34-26, advantage.
Hornick, a senior, led Sherrard (2-1) with 17 points, sophomore Aimee Iverson joined her in double digit scoring with 10.
Melanie Thompson (12), and Courtney Doty (10) joined Hasbrook in double figures for the Storm (3-0).
Notes: The Storm picked up their second-win of the season Thursday, topping Henry 61-22. BV jumped out to a 20-8 lead after the first quarter and never looked back as they cruised to victory over the Lady Mallards.
Lauren Hasbrook led the way for the Storm with a 21 points, all of which came in the first half. Megan Mussche joined her in double digit scoring with 10, and Melanie Thompson added eight for the Storm win. Claire Vos earned top scoring honors for Henry with nine points on the evening.
• All-Tournament Team selections were dominated by the champion Storm, who landed all five starters on the squad, with Hasbrook, Thompson, Mussche, Courtney Doty and Torri Peterson being joined by Iversson and Henry senior Claire Voss.
