LE ROY — Southern Coffey County High’s Karley Ohl and Yates Center High’s Cayten Cummings were their typically sterling selves on the hardwood Tuesday evening.
But it was the work of the supporting casts that largely helped decide the outcome of SCC’s 38-34 nail-biting victory.
Namely, it was the Lady Titans’ Emily Ludolph who hit three critical free throws down the stretch to keep Yates Center at arm’s length, especially after Ohl exited the game with her fifth foul midway through the fourth quarter.
“I’m really proud of the five that were in there after Karley left,” Lady Titan head coach Jeff True said. “She’s pretty much our main ball-handler. They’re not used to handling the ball.”
Ohl exited with 3:21 left with the Lady Titans holding a 35-28 lead.
Cummings drained a pair of free throws and then scored inside to slice the lead to 35-22 with 2½ minutes left.
Yates Center’s Jaylynn Birk then stole a pass, leading to a free throw from Aubrey Chambers to make it a two-point game with 1:18 left.
Things got even tighter after Cummings converted another steal into a free throw, making it 35-34, before Ludolph slammed the door, hitting three free throws over the final 42 seconds.
Yates Center, meanwhile, came up empty on its last two possessions.
“They were playing pretty tight defense on us,” Yates Center head coach Eric Busteed said. “It was a good, physical ball game. We were putting shots in good spots. They just weren’t dropping.”
“Ludolph did a good job of stepping up and hitting free throws,” True said. “She’d been struggling at the line but came up big tonight.”
Southern Coffey County took control, starting late in the first quarter, courtesy of 3-pointers from Ohl and Cheyenne Dyke. A 12-4 run in the second quarter gave the Lady Titans a 25-15 halftime lead.
“That’s probably the best half we’ve played this year, at both ends of the court,” True said. “That was probably Cheyenne’s best offensive game. She hit that big 3 and knocked down a couple of nice, short shots.”
Cummings took over at the start of the third quarter, draining a 3-pointer and a pair of inside buckets to pare the lead to 25-22 in the span of three minutes.
“The Yates Center girls did a nice job of making adjustments,” True said. “I’m proud of our girls for keeping their composure, staying focused and still knocking down shots.”
