Eagles drop contest to Monrovia in double OT

Saturday, January 19, 2008

MONROVIA -- The South Putnam girls' squad dropped an intense contest with Monrovia 53-49 in double overtime Friday night.

Shooting woes plagued the Eagles throughout the contest and resulted in a sluggish start. South trailed 11-4 after the first quarter but things started to turn slightly in the favor of the Eagles.

"We didn't shoot the ball very well tonight. We missed some block outs early and they got some easy buckets. We switch defenses and that helped get us back into the game," SPHS head coach Debbie Steffy said.

Meghan Canary splits Monrovia defenders Victoria Dorsett (24), Courtney Harris (30) and Jessica Standeford (34) during second half action of Fridays game. Canary scored 23 as the Eagles lost to the Bulldogs 53-49 in double overtime.

With 1:37 in the fourth, the Eagles started their charge. A three-pointer by Meghan Canary with 1:30 on the clock brought South with in three at 38-35. The Eagles defense rose to the occasion and held tough against the Bulldogs but resorted to fouling for an attempt at overtime.

South sent Tiffany Dillon to the line where she missed the front end of a 1-and-1. With 14 seconds remaining, Canary dropped beyond the arc and drained a three to send the game to overtime.

Monrovia crept out to a three-point lead, 43-40 with 2:25 remaining but the Eagles defense again stepped up to the challenge, holding the Bulldogs scoreless for the rest of the quarter. They pulled within one with 39 second to go after Canary and Bailey Birt hit a free toss each. Oceaia Boetjer drove the lane as time waned and was fouled with four seconds remaining. After missing the first toss, she steadied herself and knocked down the second attempt to tie the game 43-all and send it to double-overtime.

But in the second overtime period, the Eagles luck ran out.

Canary tied the game at 49-all after she slashed her way through the defense but Monrovia built its lead and held the Eagles at arms length to get the win.

A bright spot for the Eagles in overtime was the play of senior Liz Mink. She came off the bench and proceeded to grab a steal, a rebound and hit the floor to keep the Eagles in the game.

"She was a little bit rested there on the bench and she did a good job for us in that overtime when she came out like that. She did a really good job for us," Steffy said.

The Eagles mounted a charge in the second quarter, pulling within two at 17-15 entering the half. South Putnam outscored Monrovia 11-6 in the quarter to get back into the game.

Despite the loss, Steffy was happy with her team's effort and saw things the team will need to address in order to improve itself.

"I thought we played really hard," Steffy commented. "There's not too many nights where you get to play an extra quarter of basketball. I thought we played hard, with good intensity. We were into the flow of the game but we had some mental mistakes here and there at crucial times.

"Those are the things we're going to have to get over to be successful the rest of the season," she added.

Monrovia had two players score double figures but it was their quickness that caused the Eagles the most trouble. The Bulldog's swarming defense kept the Eagles out of sync, searching for their way.

"They're (Monrovia) an aggressive team and we've been getting better all season about handling the pressure on the basketball and I thought we did a decent job tonight of being able to get away from their pressure. But you get away from them and all of a sudden there come a hand from the side. They're a quick team and we had trouble with that," Steffy concluded.

The Eagles will host Tri-West at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

At Monrovia

South Putnam 4 11 11 12 5 6 -- 49

Monrovia 11 6 13 8 5 10 -- 53

South Putnam -- Canary 23, Boetjer 13, Birt 10, Searles 2, Mink 1. 18 FG 11-21 FT 49 TP.

Monrovia -- Harris 13, Engel 10, Dillon 8, Dorsett 6, Standeford 6, Porter 4, Long 4, Rednour 2. 21 FG 10-20 FT 53 TP.

Next game -- The Eagles will host Tri-West at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

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