YORK, PA – The York College women's basketball team used a come-from-behind effort in overtime to outlast McDaniel College 74-69 in the championship game of the Ninth Annual Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on Sunday afternoon in York.
The tournament title is the fourth straight for the Spartans and their sixth Coaches vs. Cancer Classic championship in the nine-year history of the annual tournament.
Overtime could not have started worse for York as McDaniel's Lindsey Nichols converted a three point play a mere 14 seconds into the five-minute overtime period. The teams traded baskets as McDaniel led 66-63 with 3:22 left. Senior Julianne Lambert (Hockessin, Del./Padua Academy) started the Spartan comeback with a tough, driving left-handed lay up with 2:21 in the overtime. After a Spartan defensive stop, sophomore Morgan Kuehne (Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion) gave the Spartans the lead for good with a lay up with 1:44 left in overtime.
Tournament MVP Sam Hruz (White Marsh, Md./Mercy) then made a huge defensive play for the Spartans. Nichols attempted to cross over Hruz at the top of the key but the Spartan forward poked the ball away and the Spartans got possession. Nichols fouled Hruz and the York junior sank both free throws, pushing York's lead to 69-66.
York came up with their third straight stop when junior Sarah Shearer (York, Pa./West York) picked off a Brittney Davis pass at the 1:05 mark. The Green Terror fouled and junior Karli McFatridge (York, Pa./York Catholic) drained both of her attempts, increasing the York lead to 71-66. York got a fourth straight stop as Shearer picked up the defensive rebound. Lambert was fouled and split two free throws to push the York lead to 72-66.
The Green Terror finally halted the 9-0 Spartan run with a Sarah Bach free throw but McFatridge drained two more free throws with 15 seconds left to push the York lead to 74-67. Nichols got a cosmetic layup at the horn to provide for the final five point Spartan margin of victory.
The Spartans played their best half of the year in the opening two quarters of play. The Spartans got out to an early 6-2 lead but the Green Terror eventually tied the game at 10. York would end the quarter on a 9-5 spurt to take a 19-15 lead through 10 minutes of play.
York pushed the lead to seven but the Green Terror answered with a five point run, cutting the York lead to two. The Spartans scored the next seven points of the game to push out to a 35-26 advantage with 49 seconds left. McDaniel's Davis cashed out a three pointer 17 seconds later, cutting the Spartan lead to 35-29 at the break.
The Spartans did a fantastic job of taking care of the ball in the first half as they had just five turnovers. York also held McDaniel to zero offensive rebounds in the first half as the Spartans were very sharp.
The third quarter was back and forth early on as York would push the lead to high single digits only to have McDaniel reel them back in. The Spartans looked poised to blow the game open late in the third as back-to-back buckets from Kuehne push the York lead to a game-high 12 points at 52-40 with 51 seconds left in the period. McDaniel stole the momentum heading into the fourth quarter as Nichols hit a lay up and Karli Zeps hit a lay up off a steal at the horn as a lead, that stood at 12 points just 30 seconds before, was eight heading to the final period in regulation.
The Green Terror climbed all the way back with 6:25 left in regulation as Zeps hit a pair of free throws to give McDaniel a 55-54 lead. Hruz hit a pair of free throws to give York a 56-55 lead with 6:09 left on the clock. That would begin a series of back and forth play as neither team led by more than two points over the final five minutes of regulation. Jasmine Smith looked like she may have won the game for McDaniel with 18 seconds left as Nichols lost the ball driving to the basket. Smith collected the loose ball and calmly hit a jumper at the free throw line to give McDaniel a 61-60 lead.
After a York timeout advanced the ball to the front court, Hruz was fouled with 13 seconds left. She tied the game with a make on the first but her second free throw was long. Smith got a tough shot off with under a second left on the clock but the attempt missed, sending the teams to overtime.
Hruz continued her strong start to the season as the junior forward tallied a team-high 18 points en route to the MVP award. She was 4-for-8 from the field including 1-for-2 from three. Hruz went to the line a career-high 11 times as she converted a career-high nine free throws in the win. She pulled in seven rebounds, dished out six assists, had three steals and blocked a shot in her 38 minutes of work.
Kuehne added 12 points and a career-high eight rebounds as she played a career-high 38 minutes in the victory. Sophomore Katie Wagner (Glen Rock, Pa./Susquehannock) also played well for York as she tallied 12 points, three rebounds, and three assists for York. McFatridge came off the bench and scored a career-high tying 12 points including a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. Shearer chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds while Lambert was a highly effective with seven points, two rebounds and two assists in her 25 minutes of action.
Nichols led the Green Terror as the senior guard tallied a game-high 21 points in her 43 minutes of action. Nichols needed 23 shots to reach her 21 points as she finished 8-for-23 from the floor including 2-for-9 from three. Nichols was 3-for-5 from the stripe and also pulled in six rebounds, had five steals, and dished out three assists. Zeps played well for the Green Terror as she scored 18 points, grabbed five rebounds, and had three steals before fouling out in overtime. Davis contributed 14 points, four assists and a rebound for McDaniel while Smith was the fourth member of the Green Terror to reach double figures with 12 points.
York finished the game shooting 49.1% from the floor. That number could have been much higher as York got great shots all day but again struggled to make shots close to the bucket. The Spartans went 2-for-10 from three and were a solid 20-for-30 from the stripe. McDaniel shot 37.9% from the floor including 6-for-20 from three. McDaniel struggled at the line as they went 13-for-22 in the loss.
York dominated the game on the glass as they had a 46-31 margin in rebounding. For the weekend, the Spartans outrebounded their two tournament opponents by a combined total of 103-72.
York committed a season-high tying 22 miscues in the win including 16 in the second half which allowed McDaniel to climb back into the game in the fourth quarter. McDaniel had 15 turnovers in the loss.
In addition to Hruz being named the tournament MVP, Kuehne earned all-tournament team honors for the Spartans. McDaniel's Nichols, Newbury's Destiny Spears, and Worcester State's TaNijia Smith were selected to join Hruz and Kuehne on the all-tournament team. Newbury won the consolation game 55-49.
The Spartans will get to enjoy their Thanksgiving holiday as they are now off until Wednesday, December 2 when they will host Wesley College in their Capital Athletic Conference opener. That will start a stretch of four games in 10 days including three conference games. Tip time on December 2 is set for 6:00 pm at Wolf Gymnasium.