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Otto-Eldred Girls Drop Heartbreaker to Berlin Brothersvalley in Class 1A Quarterfinals

CLARION, Pa. – With all the prolific scorers on the court, it was one role player’s lone field goal that proved to be the game-winner as Berlin Brothersvalley defeated Otto-Eldred, 40-39, in their PIAA Class 1A quarterfinal at Clarion’s Tippin Gym Saturday.

Mercy Sechler’s putback with just under 20 seconds left was her first shot of the game and gave the Mountaineers the lead.

After a timeout, the Terrors inbounded the ball near midcourt. Katie Sheeler looked for an opening and, when she couldn’t find one, dished it inside to Bri Heller. Heller’s shot attempt was knocked out of bounds.

Otto-Eldred maintained possession and, with 1.6 seconds to go, had one last attempt at a game-winner. Brooke Close inbounded to Sheeler in the corner, but her buzzer-beating 3-point attempt fell short.

Grace Sechler hit back-to-back layups to start the fourth quarter and put Berlin in front, 31-28. Jen Countryman’s putback pushed the lead to 33-29.

                                      

Berlin kept the 4-point advantage until Sheeler knocked down a deep triple with 3:30 to go to cut the lead to one, 35-34. Countryman completed a traditional 3-point play a minute later to stretch the lead back to four.

Sheeler came right back and was fouled on a 3-point shot attempt. She drained all three free throws to cut the deficit to 38-37 with two minutes to go.

After trading turnovers, the Terrors fouled Regan Lauer with 49 seconds left. Lauer missed the front end of the one-and-one and Sechler missed the second chance opportunity. Countryman got the second rebound but ran into a double team and the Mountaineers were forced to take a timeout.

Sheeler stole the ensuing inbound and was fouled. She knocked down both free throws to put Otto-Eldred in front, 39-38, setting up Mercy Sechler’s game-winning sequence

Berlin advanced to the PIAA semifinals where the Mountaineers will face Union-New Castle on Tuesday with a trip to the state championship game on the line.

                          

After scoring the first point of the game, Otto-Eldred found itself in a 9-point hole late in the first quarter. Sheeler connected on a floater, just the Terrors’ second field goal of the game, with under 20 seconds to go to cut the lead to seven, 13-6, heading to the second.

Sheeler and the Terrors’ offense caught fire in the second quarter. Four players scored in the frame as Otto-Eldred outscored Berlin, 17-6. Sheeler accounted for nine of the 17 points.

The Terrors led by four, 23-19, at the half, though it could have been more. Otto-Eldred was able to get Berlin in early foul trouble, getting into the bonus with just under seven minutes remaining in the half.

O-E took five trips to the line in the first half and went 1-2 on four of them. The Terrors were much better from the line in the second half (11-14) but finished 17-24 for the game.

As hot as the Terrors’ offense was in the second quarter, it was equally cold in the third. Much of that due to the fact that Sheeler spent the final five minutes of the frame on the bench after picking up her fourth personal foul.

Otto-Eldred’s defense held Berlin in check, limiting the Mountaineers to just eight points, and the Terrors held a 28-27 advantage heading to the fourth.

Grace Sechler hit back-to-back layups to start the fourth quarter and put Berlin back in front, 31-28. Jen Countryman’s putback pushed the lead to 33-29.

Berlin kept the 4-point advantage until Sheeler knocked down a deep triple with 3:30 to go to cut the lead to one, 35-34. Countryman completed a traditional 3-point play a minute later to stretch the lead back to four.

Sheeler came right back and was fouled on a 3-point shot attempt. She drained all three free throws to cut the deficit to 38-37 with two minutes to go.

After trading turnovers, the Terrors fouled Regan Lauer with 49 seconds left. Lauer missed the front end of the one-and-one and Sechler missed the second chance opportunity. Countryman got the second rebound but ran into a double team and the Mountaineers were forced to take a timeout.

                                   

Sheeler stole the ensuing inbound and was fouled. She knocked down both free throws to put Otto-Eldred in front, 39-38, setting up Mercy Sechler’s game-winning sequence.

Grace Sechler finished with a team-high 17 points for the Mountaineers. Countryman added 10 points and Grenke had five.

Despite missing five minutes of the third quarter, Sheeler had a game-high 20 points. Drummond had six points and Heller added five points.

Score by Quarters
Otto-Eldred 6 17 5 11 – 39
Berlin Brothersvalley 13 6 8 13 – 40

OTTO-ELDRED 39
Anna Merry 1-2-2-4, Brooke Close 0-2-2-2, Katie Sheeler 6-6-7-20, Carrie Drummond 1-4-6-6, Addie Bell 0-0-0-0, Katie Rinehart 1-0-0-2, Bri Heller 1-3-7-5, TOTALS 10-17-24-39

BERLIN BROTHERSVALLEY 40
Leah Miller 2-0-0-4, Ashley Brant 1-0-0-2, Grace Sechler 6-5-6-17, Mercy Sechler 1-0-0-2, Jen Countryman 4-2-3-10, McKenzie Moore 0-0-0-0, Taylor Hillegass 0-0-0-0, Regan Lauer 0-0-3-0, Elsie Barna 0-0-1-0, Peyton Grenke 2-0-0-5, TOTALS 16-7-13-40

Three-pointers: OE (2) – Sheeler 2. B (1) – Grenke.

                       

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