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Waterford rallies again, earns spot in Final Four

By Aaron Lee 4 min read

PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- On Saturday night at Pickerington North High School, Waterford faced off against Hiland for the Division IV regional title and a spot in the final four in Dayton. Down 11 at halftime, the Wildcats had the perfect opportunity to pack it in. Instead, Waterford tied things up by the end of regulation and managed a 53-51 win in overtime.

The Wildcats held a 11-10 lead after one quarter. Turnover struggles and a 13-0 run by their opponents had Waterford down 28-17 by halftime. Steals were a large contributing factor, as the Wildcats gave up 7 in the first 16 minutes. Ashley Mullett of the Hawks was especially troublesome, contributing four of those seven.

In the third, the Wildcats had an 8-0 run and began forcing takeaways of their own. With Waterford down just five at 36-31 by the end of the period, momentum was beginning to shift.

The Wildcats continued to inch closer in the fourth. An Avery Wagner basket with 20 seconds left tied things at 43-43. Hiland missed the final shot in regulation, triggering overtime.

Waterford was forced to play from behind yet again in the four-minute overtime period due to a triple by Joplin Yoder. Moments later, a drive to the rim followed by a spinning shot by Wagner tied things back up at 46 a side. The teams exchanged makes yet again, with Avery Smithberger evening things for the Wildcats. After a miss by the Hawks, Waterford had a chance to take the lead.

Kendall Sury, the Wildcats leading scorer on the night with 19 points, got an open look from behind the arc on Waterford's next possession. She paused for just a moment to make sure it was the right shot and nailed the trifecta to give the Wildcats a 51-48 lead with 26.2 seconds remaining.

Hiland had an errant pass go out of bounds on its next possession and was forced to foul for the rest of the game. Smithberger then hit a pair of free throws to prevent a comeback by the Hawks. Waterford won by a final of 53-51 in overtime to claim the regional title and a spot in the final four.

Sury gave her thoughts on the come from behind win, "Our hustle was just amazing coming out in the second half. We were determined. We were like, 'it's all or nothing. We're either gonna lose and go home or win and go to Dayton,' so we put our minds to it. We were there for each other, hustled every second and we knew what we had to do."

"I hesitated a little bit because I was like, 'is this the right shot?' and I was like, 'You know, I'm just gonna have to take it because it's win or go home,' so I took it, made it and I felt like I was in a fever dream," said Sury on what was on her mind while taking the shot and in the moments after.

She concluded, "It feels amazing. It feels like freshman year when we were going to Dayton. It's really exciting and I'm ready to play on Thursday."

Waterford head coach spoke on what sparked the comeback, "There's no secret. They know if they don't win they go home, and we talked about that, just a gut check about how long and hard this season has been. What you've been through, what we're down is nothing compared to what we've been down the whole season. They just gutted it out."

He said of Sury's clutch 3, "That's what good players do. She missed a few early and hit those ones late. We missed a few tonight we don't usually miss, but we got it in the end."

Despite the distance, there was a sea of green at Pickerington North. "Love these people. It's like this everywhere we go tournament time. Just a great atmosphere. The community has been great to us, very very supportive. Just love this community," said Close of the Waterford faithful.

While securing a spot in the final four is a familiar feeling for the Wildcats, it's as exciting as ever, "It always feels good, man. That's your goal every year is to get to Dayton. Just a great feeling. It's great for the kids, great for our program."

Contact Aaron Lee at alee@newsandsentinel.com

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