Falcon girls fall in OT, 53-51

It had to end sometime, and that time was overtime for the girls' basketball team at Coudersport.

The Falcons' 26-game win streak came to an end Wednesday night at Clarion High School, as the Avonworth Antelopes pulled out a 53-51 win that ended Coudersport's season.

"With a game that close, we could can play the 'whatif' game months and months, but I'm not going to do that," said Falcon coach Brian Green. "So, we have no regrets. We had a good bunch of kids who worked hard and were fun to be around and I'm going to miss them."

Green said it's also time to look to the future.

"A lot of our younger players gained experience this season," he noted. "We'll have to see how they respond and see if we can get back there next year."

With Avonworth packing in the frontcourt with a 2-3 zone defense, Coudersport opted for the outside shot. After Karli Duffee, Kelly McVay and Kristy Kamper drilled consecutive three-pointers, the Falcons were up 13-5.

But the Antelopes' Abbey Francis responded with a couple of treys. Then Avonworth was able to penetrate offensively for some inside baskets to go up 26-21 at halftime.

A cat-and-mouse third quarter ended on a threepointer by Kamper, followed by consecutive rejections on the other end by Kamper and Jessica Wilson. After the latter, Wilson fired a long pass to Kamper for a breakaway lay-up to tie things 35-35 at the end of the third quarter.

Jordan Bright and Wilson scored from inside and Kamper sank another trey to give the Falcons a 42-38 edge. However, Avonworth found Liz Raves open underneath for a basket to force a 47-47 tie late in the game.

Coudersport had five seconds to nail the game-winner after a time out, but the Antelope defense held its ground and a long missile at the buzzer bounded off the rim.

Diminutive guard Lindsey Costa's three-pointer gave Avonworth a 52-49 lead in overtime. Wilson answered with a basket with just over a minute left.

Francis converted the front end of a one-and-one to make the score 53-51.

Coudersport had one more chance to tie or win, but a jump shot bounced off the iron and Francis caressed the rebound as the buzzer sounded.

The Falcons (27-3) finished the season as Northern Tier League champions, PIAA District 9 champs and a Sweet 16 qualifier. Avonworth moves on to play Farrell in the Elite Eight.

To reach Wednesday's game, Coudersport had to storm back from an eightpoint deficit to edge Blairsville, 59-52, on Saturday at St. Marys High School.

Kamper scored 13 of her game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter. She added nine rebounds and five steals for the game. Kayla Bohn added seven points and five assists while Wilson had 10 points, seven rebounds and seven blocked shots.