KARNS CITY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Down by 10 after three quarters and by as many as 12 early in the fourth, things were looking mighty bleak for the Redbank Valley girls basketball team.
The Bulldogs’ backs were against the wall.
Just the way they like it.
(Redbank Valley’s Addy Bond, left, and Mylee Harmon were named the Hager Paving Incorporated co-players of the game)
Redbank Valley regrouped, dialed up the defensive pressure and forced turnover after turnover against suddenly shellshocked Karns City in closing regulation and overtime on a 23-5 run for a 46-40 road win on Tuesday night.
“We had a time out and (coach Chris Edmonds) asked, ‘Do you want it?’” said Redbank Valley junior guard Mylee Harmon, “We wanted it. And we went out there and showed it, especially on defense. Our defense is what won that game for us.”
Defense and clutch shooting.
Addy Bond scored 10 of her 13 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, including two key 3-pointers, and freshman Elaina Carrico also hit a clutch 3 to break a 38-38 tie in overtime on the way to the win for Redbank.
Carrico had just three points. They were perhaps the biggest three points of the game.
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“She’s only a freshman — I remember being a freshman. There’s a lot of pressure,” Harmon said. “One mistake and it gets into you head. She definitely stepped up.”
So did Harmon, who was coming off one of the most frustrating stretch of games in her stellar career.
Harmon, who is already closing in on 1,200 career points, was held to four against Moniteau and two against Keystone in her last two games. She fouled out of both.
She admitted it was mentally tough and draining on her.
“It was pretty rough,” Harmon said. “I like to think of myself as a mentally tough player, but there were definitely tears and it was definitely hard. But I had my family — my mom — and my friends and they all have my back. They were just talking to me, sending me motivational stuff and really helped me just get back into the zone. Tonight we just came out and did our thing.”
Harmon finished with a game-high 16 points. But she also played strong defense and stayed out of foul trouble with five steals. She also had seven rebounds and a handful of assists as the offense ran through her.
Kira Bonanno and Izzy Bond each added seven for the Bulldogs, who started out strong, leading 12-8 after the first quarter.
But Karns City hit its stride in the middle two frame, outscoring Redbank Valley 23-9 to take the double-digit lead.
Hanna Dailey had 10 of her 12 points — including two 3-pointers — in the second and third quarters to help the Gremlins build that lead.
Karns City was up 35-23 two minutes into the fourth quarter, but scored just one point on a free throw from Chloe Fritch, the rest of regulation.
Fritch also scored 12 points for the Gremlins.
“The stall wasn’t intentional — we were still trying to score points,” Karns City coach Steve Andreassi said of the strategy in the fourth quarter. “It’s just a lack of focus. It’s mental weakness at times. We’re trying to score. Are we trying to take some of the shots that we took to get there? No. We’re still trying to take uncontested shots. We’re taking high-percentage shots. We’re still trying to get to the hoop.”
Redbank Valley compounded Karns City’s woes with some defensive adjustments, including full-court pressure.
“We told the girls what we needed to do and they bought into it and put the pressure on,” Edmonds said. “We changed up to a 2-3-1 and it sort of rattled them.”
It also swung the momentum wildly in the Bulldogs’ favor.
“We were setting ourselves up to be preyed upon,” Andreassi said. “We’re out there individually dribbling the basketball and it’s easier to steal when you’re in the open court and you’re just dribbling, dribbling, dribbling. Honestly, it’s just decision-making. This wasn’t a conference game, but this was our chance to go take that next step and we did a great job for the longest time, but we’re still trying to learn how to close out games.
“We’re not a young team anymore,” he added. “You can’t be a superior, successful team unless you take that next step and close out games and it was just a failed attempt tonight.”
It was the second wild win in a week for Redbank Valley, which beat Moniteau on a halfcourt buzzer-beater by Addy Bond on Jan. 3.
This was also the second overtime game played between these two teams this season. Redbank won the first meeting — and the one that counts in the KSAC standings — 48-47 on Dec. 15.
The Bulldogs have shown some grit in close games this year.
“That’s what I’ve kept telling the girls throughout the season — believe in yourself,” Edmonds said.
Harmon said Redbank has started to thrive in these types of contests, which bodes well for later in the season in a tough KSAC.
“We definitely love winning these games,” Harmon said. “We don’t really love those 30-point games. These are the ones that are good and the ones that we love, the ones you have to fight every second in.”
Redbank Valley has also shown it has the clutch gene — Addy Bond in particular.
The sophomore seems to play her best in the most difficult of situations, like she did again versus Karns City with her performance in the fourth and in OT.
“I always try to help our team keep the energy up,” Addy Bond said. “You not only want to do well for yourself, but for the team.
“We always have that motivation and we never quit,” she added. “We play to the last .1 second on the clock. We always keep pushing and it’s been paying off.”
For Karns City, the message is clear going forward.
“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves,” Andreassi said. “We have two more games this week at Clarion on Thursday and home against Punxsutawney on Friday. It’s just the crazy game of basketball. You have to take the opportunities you’re given and figure out how to go to the next level.”
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
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