PORT ALLEGANY, Pa. – Layken Enty may have been nervous, but she sure didn’t show it.
Enty was fouled with nine seconds left in regulation and No. 4 Oswayo Valley trailing No. 1 Coudersport 29-28 in the North Tier League semifinals.
Enty calmly went to the line and knocked down both, and the Green Wave came up with a turnover on the other end to earn a 30-29 win.
“I was not calm at all,” Enty said following her late-game heroics. “We watched film on them a lot and we knew our mistakes from playing them the first time and we tried to fix them the second time around and we did.”
See Enty’s full interview:
“In practice we shoot free throws at the start and she’s always making 18, 19 out of 20,” said Oswayo Valley coach Clark Cummings. “I knew she had it in her if she could control her nerves and it was just great to see her knock them down. You’re so happy for the kids when you see them step up in big spots. It will be something she’ll never forget.”
In the first meeting between the teams this season, Port Allegany (17-6) won 54-46 on Dec. 20. In the second meeting on Jan. 30, it was a 34-28 win for Oswayo Valley (16-7).
Both teams had opportunities in the closing moments to secure the win.
Port Allegany went ahead 29-25 on Peyton Gordon’s layup with 4:25 to play, but those would be the last points the Lady Gators scored.
Charlotte Austin-Keech knocked down 1-of-2 from the line to get Oswayo Valley back within three at the 3:14 mark.
With 2:25 to play, it was Eva West knocking down a jumper to make it 29-28. Those would be the last points until Enty’s free throws.
Port Allegany trailed 14-12 at halftime but opened the second half on an 8-3 run to take a 20-17 lead after a pair of Kayleigha Dowell free throws.
OV rallied to tie the game at 23-all entering the fourth after a pair of free throws by Manning.
Brooke George knocked down a jumper for the Lady Green Wave before Gordon’s two buckets put Port back up, 29-25.
Austin-Keech and West had eight points each for Oswayo Valley, while Gordon had seven points and Dowell six for Port Allegany.
West also had seven rebounds, Makenna Manning five steals and Austin-Keech five rebounds.
Gordon had seven points and Dowell six for Port Allegany
Up next for Oswayo Valley is a date with No. 2 Coudersport, a 44-38 winner over No. 3 Otto-Eldred, in the finals on Saturday at Bradford Area High School.
COUDERSPORT 44, OTTO-ELDRED 38
COUDERSPORT, Pa. – A 15-4 second-quarter run helped Coudersport to a 44-38 win over visiting Otto-Eldred in the semifinals of the inaugural NTL girls’ basketball tournament.
The second-seeded Lady Falcons (19-4) led by three, 9-6, after eight minutes before popping out to a 24-10 halftime lead thanks to the strong second quarter.
Hallie Rigas hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter and scored six of her 10 points in the frame, while Sierra Myers also knocked down a long-range bomb while scoring five of her seven points in the quarter.
Olivia Fink also scored four second-quarter points and finished with a game-high 15 points.
Third-seeded Otto-Eldred (13-10) tried to fight back after halftime outscoring Coudersport 13-5 in the third quarter to make it a game.
Freshman Rayel Hakes led the third-quarter charger with eight of her team-high 10 points.
Addie Bell then tried to get the Lady Terrors over the hump by scoring seven of nine tallies in the fourth quarter, but seven points from Fink allowed the Lady Falcons to hold on for the victory.
Fink added seven rebounds while Myers had five boards for Coudersport.
Hayes chipped in six rebounds for Otto-Eldred with Ayla VanScoter adding four rebounds, four steals, and eight points.
Coudersport will face fourth-seeded Oswayo Valley, a 30-29 winner over Port Allegany, in Saturday’s championship game at Bradford High School. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
