By PAUL GOTHAM
HILTON, N.Y. — Heading into overtime, Frank Clark delivered a simple message to the Victor girls’ basketball team.
“We just beat them by 13 in 16 minutes. All you got to do is beat them by one the next four.”
The Blue Devils exceeded their coach’s expectations.
Three players contributed to the offensive production during the extra session when Victor shut out Hilton, 7-0 to cap off a 49-42 come-from-behind win in Monroe County Division I action, Monday.
“They bought into it,” Clark said. “I had faith in them that they could do that after winning by 13 points in 16 minutes.”
After a second quarter that saw Victor commit six turnovers while hitting just one field goal, the Blue Devils (10-5) won for the third time in four games.
Trailing 27-14 at halftime, Victor came out of the break and scored on three of its first four possessions.
Block-to-block action: Rachel Gill to Mallory Clar. 2:56 remaining Hilton 42 Victor 38 pic.twitter.com/oDfdK6Tr38
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 8, 2022
Mallory Clar hit for a 3-pointer to start the second-half scoring. Three possessions later, Rachel Gill took a post feed from Grace Callahan and finished at the rim.
The deficit was back to single digits.
“Everything we do is around her,” Clark said of Gill. “When she goes hard, we seem to all go hard. I can’t say enough how important she is to this team. You kinda see in a game what we see in practice all the time. She plays hard. She goes after it.”
Gill and Clar finished with 13 points apiece in the win. The two combined for 11 of Victor’s 16 points in the third quarter.
Rachel Gill takes the post entry from Grace Callahan and finishes inside. @VictorGirlsBB has cut the deficit to 8 at 33-25 with 2:57 remaining in the third. pic.twitter.com/RqLgGh0CRU
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 8, 2022
“They were fronting us in the post, and we got the skip pass,” Clark explained. “We had them sealed on the back a couple times, and we got some easy looks off that. That’s something we need to look at and do a little bit more of. That was very effective.
“We’ve got size. If we can keep getting the ball in the paint, we’re in a lot better shape. We shoot a lot better down there than we do on the outside.”
Gill handed out three assists in the second half.
Kaitlin Murphy added 11 points in the win.
Eva Pronti had seven points including the opening bucket of the extra session. Clar converted on 4-of-4 free throw attempts in overtime. Gill went 1-of-2 from the stripe.
Eva Pronti makes it a one-possession game at 38-33. pic.twitter.com/JeBFJm8Ica
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 8, 2022
Olivia Eschler (3) and Abby Murphy (2) also contributed points in the game.
Hilton’s Mallory Heise had six of her game-high 18 points in the second quarter when the Cadets outscored Victor 17-2.
Mallory Heise finds Ella Clark in transition. @LadyCadetsHoops 23-14. pic.twitter.com/5K480PfnIO
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 8, 2022
“We had 10 turnovers at the half,” Clark said. “Our goal was nine for the game. That’s how they beat us at our place. They scored 26 points off our turnovers last game.”
Ella Clark, Karlee Hargarther and Leah Thompson scored eight points apiece for the Cadets (9-7). Hilton had won five of six heading into Monday’s matchup.
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