Huskies pull off OT thriller, defeat Jaguars, 39-36
In their second meeting with Mill Valley this season, the girls varsity basketball team defeated MVHS, 39-36, in an overtime win on Feb. 18 at BVNW.
February 18, 2020
Coming into their second meeting of the season with the Mill Valley Jaguars, junior Megan Edwards said the girls varsity basketball team wanted to avenge their Jan. 7 loss to the Jaguars. Edwards knew similar to their first game, this would be a competitive matchup.
“We knew this was gonna be a really good matchup,” Edwards said. “We lost by four points in overtime last time, so we definitely had our heads in the game.”
To start the game off, it began with Edwards being fouled and making one of two free throws to give the Huskies a quick, 1-0 advantage. As they were leading the Jaguars 8-7 in a low scoring matchup, head coach Matt Shulman said their ability to keep the lead, despite it being tight, was due to the team’s defense.
“We played great defense from the minute the game started until the minute it ended,” Shulman said. “We made them work for every shot.”
Carrying their one point lead into the second quarter, neither team scored until the 3:16 mark where Edwards hit a three to put the Huskies ahead 11-7 and sophomore Brynn Grosdidier added a layup totalling five points for the Huskies during the second quarter compared to the Jaguars’ two points scored.
“We maintained, continued to go downhill, and continued to stay with it,” Shulman said of the team’s ability to score as time went on in the second quarter. “We didn’t go away from the game plan, we didn’t get frustrated, we continued to play hard and do great things.
MVHS scored two points on either side of halftime to cut the lead to 13-11.Then towards the 5:10 mark of the third quarter, MVHS was able to tie with BVNW, 13-13. Shulman credited the Jaguars for keeping it close through tough defense.
“Credit to [MVHS],” Shulman said. “They stayed with it, they played good defense and continued to compete.”
To begin the fourth quarter, the Jaguars opened up with a quick layup to be within one. But then sophomore Hayley Numrich was fouled and went two-for-two on a set of free throws, which would be two of the five free throws she would make in the fourth quarter.
“We knocked down some free throws that were huge,” Shulman said. “I mean that was the biggest key, we maintained some confidence, we went up to the line and we knocked down some tough shots with everyone watching.”
After Numrich hit her last two free throws for the evening, Mill Valley was able to score bringing the game to a tie, 29-29, resulting in the second overtime matchup of the season between the two teams.
Heading into overtime, Edwards hit a layup immediately to give the Huskies a quick advantage at 31-29. The Jaguars were able to keep the game tied, eventually holding a one point lead.
While MVHS was leading 36-33 with :26 left of overtime, Farthing hit a three to help the Huskies tie the game.
“I was like please go in, please go in,” Farthing said of her three. “But I knew it would be an important three if it were to go in.”
Tied at 36, Farthing was fouled with two seconds left and made one of two free throws to put the Huskies up by one. Then, Edwards sealed the game for the Huskies by hitting two final free throws, leading to their first EKL win of the season, 39-36.
“There was one second on the clock, we pretty much had won,” Edwards said. “I was excited to celebrate with my team to just finish the game.”
With the win, it gives the Huskies their third win of the season and their first EKL win this year. Continuing EKL play, the Huskies will play Blue Valley at 6 p.m. on Friday Feb. 21 at BVHS.
