By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

ANSONIA — In a game that went into overtime, the Ansonia defense came up clutch as sophomore Lydia Hahn got the steal and score with seconds left to give the Lady Tigers a 62-60 win over Union City on Dec. 2.

Head coach Connor Custenborder said it was a team win. With some injuries and the team’s two seniors, Brenna and Bailey Schmit, on the bench, the rest of the team stepped up.

“Stressful, we had two seniors, our leading scorers from last year, in foul trouble. The bench stepped up big time. A real team win,” Custenborder said.

Ansonia was up 25-21 at halftime after Union City made a three-point shot at the buzzer. Custenborder said he takes responsibility for that made shot by calling the wrong defense in that situation.

The Lady Tigers were getting turnovers and causing chaos with their press defense. Offensively, they made some shots but couldn’t get enough going to build up a large lead.

After halftime, Union City started to find some ways to get through the Ansonia press. Both teams started to get their offense going early in the second half.

Once again, Union City made a buzzer beater three-pointer to tie the game, 43-43, in the third quarter.

The two teams battled all throughout the fourth quarter. Both teams had chances to take a lead at the free throw line, but both teams struggled to make enough free throws to get to a two-point lead.

With 29.1 seconds left, sophomore Olivia Creager got a basket to go up 56-54. And once again, the Lady Indians went down the court and scored at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. Custenborder said Union City deserves credit for making those clutch shots down the stretch.

Entering overtime, Brenna Schmit fouled out in the fourth quarter. During overtime, Bailey Schmit fouled out. Custenborder said even with their main offensive options out, the team held strong and fought for the win.

“Two people that we design our offense around, a lot of plays run through them. Girls that normally don’t get a lot of varsity action, in practice that are running our scout team, came in and did a really good job taking care of the ball and being in the right spot on defense,” Custenborder said.

Creager and freshman London Reichert both made a free throw down the stretch that led to a 60-60 game with 21.4 seconds left.

Union City had the ball and was going down the court. Before they could cross half court, Hahn stole the ball and got the layup with just two seconds left. The full court heave from Union City was wide left and Ansonia came away with the win.

Custenborder said going through an experience like that showed the team they can get it done in crunch time.

“Now we know that if we’re that situation again, the moment is not too big for them. They can compete and not get flustered,” Custenborder said.

Reichert led the team with 18 points. Bailey Schmit had 17 and Creager had nine points. After zero made threes against Tri-County North, Ansonia made seven against Union City.

Ansonia is now 2-0 and will host Arcanum next on Dec. 7 with the JV starting at 6 p.m.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]