'There's gonna be a lot of games like this:' Central York holds off Red Lion in OT
Matt AlliboneEvery time Central York thought it was going to pull away, Red Lion would find a way to make a play.
A steal, a banked-in 3-pointer, a couple of free throws. Something to keep the game close and keep the Panthers on their toes.
It was certainly frustrating, but not surprising to Central York coach Scott Wisner.
"A team coached by Don Dimoff is going to battle hard," he said.
Ultimately, Tuesday's game came down to a final possession in overtime. Red Lion was down two with 5.1 seconds to play, but inbounding the ball under Central's basket.
The Lions never got a shot off.
Central York junior Emily Prowell made her final big play in a night full of them, knocking away the inbound pass to teammate Sarah Berman for the steal. The Lions nearly got another opportunity when Central's ensuing inbounds play — which only occurred because the referee thought Wisner called a timeout he didn't intend to — was stolen right before the buzzer. A final heave didn't come close.
The result was a 40-38 home win for Central York in the league opener for both teams. The Panthers and Lions are each 2-1 following the game.
"I saw her cutting on the baseline and I knew if I didn't get my hand out she was going to get the ball," Prowell said of her steal. "I just reacted as fast as I could to tip it."
Added Dimoff: "I was trying to get a screen slip and I think it was there, but we miscommunicated. I think we would have had it, but it was just one of those things."
Red Lion needed to rally just to get the game to overtime. Down five in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, the Lions got a 3-pointer from Paige Frey and two free throws from Julia Beiler with 11.6 seconds left to tie the game.
Still, the Lions missed a number of opportunities to pull ahead.
While Red Lion played terrific defense to keep itself in the game, it missed plenty of shots — both from the outside and in the paint — that could have given it the lead down the stretch. The Lions even got a steal right after Beiler's free throws, only to miss a 3-pointer and a put-back attempt before the buzzer.
"We need to find ways to score," Dimoff said. "The second half we did a lot of good things and got open looks, we just didn't knock them down. We've got to get in the gym and practice shots."
Dimoff added he was proud of his players for competing hard to keep it close even if they didn't always execute offensively.
Wisner's message to his players wasn't much different after the victory.
"Even though we didn't play a pretty game and made a lot of mistakes, we did what we needed to do," Wisner said. "We made a couple plays at the end to prevent them from scoring, and they had a number of opportunities."
Prowell was the star of the game, finishing with 22 points while playing active defense throughout. The 5-foot-11 junior converted a 3-point play with about five minutes to go in regulation after Red Lion briefly took the lead, and she scored twice in overtime.
On a team with four new starters including herself, Prowell entered the season expected to be one of the team's main scorers. She tallied 10 and 11 points in her first two games before a breakout performance Tuesday.
"During AAU season, my coach pushes me hard to work on my outside shooting so I can be a diverse player and go inside-and-out," she said. "Last year we had eight seniors so I didn't get a ton of playing time, so it feels good to get my shots up."
Like Red Lion, Central York walks away from Tuesday knowing it has plenty to work on. Wisner said he's glad his team got experience against an aggressive pressing defense, but that the Panthers are still going through "growing pains" on offense.
Both teams are used to winning, with Central claiming the last two league titles and Red Lion experiencing years of success under Dimoff before the legendary coach took the last two years off. Still, wins won't come easy for either team this season as Division I looks to be extremely tough.
Don't be surprised if overtime nail-biters become the norm.
"There's going to be a lot of games like this in our division," Wisner said. "It's going to be really competitive."
Added Dimoff: "Coming into the season, one of my concerns was if we would be able to score enough points to win. We're working hard to offensively and that's where we've got to get better."
Central York faces Central Dauphin on Wednesday while Red Lion plays South Western on Friday.
Central York 40, Red Lion 38
Red Lion
Miller 1 0-2 2, Eames 2 0-0 5, Klunk 3 0-3 6, Frey, Paige 6 2-2 16, Shaw 3 0-0 7, Tollinger 0 0-0 0, Foster 0 0-0 0, Beiler 0 2-2 2. Totals — 12 14-20 40
Central York
Markel 0 2-4 2, Fabbri 1 0-0 3, Rothrock 0 2-2 2, Berman 1 2-2 5, McFerren 0 0-0 0, Craig 3 0-3 6, Prowell, Emily 7 8-9 22. Totals — 15 4-9 38
Central York 9 11 8 6 6 — 40
Red Lion 7 9 8 10 4 — 38
3-pointers
Red Lion 4 (Frey 2, Shaw, Eames), Central York 2 (Fabbri, Berman)
