By Ashlea Prouty
LIBERTY — January 11, 2011 — The Tri-Valley Lady Bears defeated the Livingston Manor Lady Wildcats, 63-59, in overtime on Thursday night in an opening round game of the 2011 Liberty High School New Year’s Basketball Tournament.
T-V led 33-21 at halftime and set forth to take complete control of the game in the third quarter.
Despite the return of Manor’s Marissa Diescher, who spent much of the first half on the bench after picking up her third foul, the Lady Bears outscored the Lady Wildcats 15-10 in the third quarter.
By doing so, T-V (5-0) held a 17-point advantage going into the fourth period.
While some may have thought the game’s outcome was decided at that point, Manor (5-2) started the final quarter with a resurgence.
T-V only recorded three points, all by Erin Smith, in those eight minutes of play.
But the Lady Wildcats scored 20 points in the final minutes to tie the score and force the game into overtime.
Diescher led the rally by scoring 13 points, while Paige Clancy scored five points and Christine Babich recorded two points.
As overtime began, Jakki Pugh made her third 3-point shot of the evening to give the Lady Bears the emotional momentum they needed to record the win.
The Lady Wildcats took an early 3-0 lead when Maggi Calo made a shot from beyond the 19-foot, 9-inch arc. Diescher helped Manor add to its lead before leaving the game with foul trouble.
Pugh scored 12 points in the first quarter to help the Lady Bears take a 18-11 advantage at the end of the quarter.
The Lady Bears set to increasing their lead in the second quarter.
Smith led the team with six points and Pugh added five points, all on free throws. Kaitlynn Greffrath and Amanda TerBush each netted two points for the Lady Bears in the stanza.
Monay Allen recorded six points for the Lady Wildcats in the second quarter.
Teammates Babich and Angela Zayas each added two points.
Pugh finished with a game-high 28 points.
Diescher paced Manor with 27 points.
Manor Coach Kevin Clifford was very proud of his team.
“I have to give them credit,” he said.
T-V Coach John Tenbus was also pleased with his team.
“For a very young team, we showed composure down the stretch,” he said. “It was a huge learning experience.”