By RICHIE HALL
In the span of one week, the Sheridan girls basketball has changed its fortunes in the Hoosier Heartland Conference – for the better.
The Blackhawks took on Clinton Central as part of a girls-boys doubleheader at Hobbs Hall, and the girls did their part, holding off the Bulldogs in a scrappy 38-35 win. Sheridan’s victory moved it to 2-1 in the league.
“We feel better than we did after we were 0-1 to Taylor last week,” said Blackhawks coach Jaidlin Delph. “We got one yesterday and then got one tonight, so we’re feeling a lot better than we were. We are in such a competitive, tough conference. We’re not letting up anytime soon.”
The game was close all the way through. Sheridan led 9-5 after the first quarter, with Jillian O’Flaherty and Berkley Williams both hitting 3-pointers. But the Bulldogs allowed the ‘Hawks only four points in the second period, closing to within 13-12 at halftime.
Clinton Central took a 14-13 lead at the beginning of the third quarter when Kaylea Whitcomb made two free throws. After that, Sheridan went on a 7-0 run, with Heather Barker scoring all of the points. The ‘Hawks led 20-14 at that point, then later led 26-20. But Whitcomb was fouled on a last-second shot at the third-quarter buzzer, and made all three free throws to get CC within 26-23.
The Bulldogs led three times during the fourth quarter. But each time, Barker got the lead back for Sheridan: First with a 3-pointer to put the ‘Hawks up 32-31, then a basket off a steal to give Sheridan a 34-33 advantage.
A Barker free throw tied the game at 35-35 tied the game up with 48.5 seconds left. Clinton Central got the ball, but Olivia Raines made a steal. Eventually, Sheridan’s Allie Delph was fouled, and she made both her shots for a 37-35 lead.
The Bulldogs had the ball with under 10 seconds to go, but the Blackhawks tied it up for a jump ball to get it back. O’Flaherty was fouled with 2.9 seconds left and made one free throw to seal the game.
“We got some big stops, but we have a lot to work on,” said Jaidlin Delph. “A lot of late, last-minute decision making type things that we need to improve on. Hopefully we can do that as the season progresses.”
Barker scored 17 points to lead the Sheridan scoring, and reached a double-double by making 10 steals. The Blackhawks had 20 steals as a team, with Allie Delph making four. Olivia Raines collected eight rebounds, with Barker grabbing five.
Sheridan is 6-3 overall and is off until next Friday, when it travels to Eastern to continue HHC play.
Sheridan 38, Clinton Central 35
Sheridan FG FT TP PF
Heather Barker 6-11 4-11 17 4
Holly Barker 0-5 4-4 4 1
Jillian O’Flaherty 1-7 2-4 5 2
Olivia Raines 1-3 0-0 2 4
Allie Delph 0-3 2-2 2 1
Taylor Bates 0-2 1-4 1 0
Berkley Williams 2-6 2-4 7 0
Katy Crail 0-0 0-0 0 1
Lillie Dickerson 0-0 0-0 0 1
Totals 10-37 15-29 38 14
Score by Quarters
Clinton Central 5 7 11 12 – 35
Sheridan 9 4 13 12 – 38
Sheridan 3-point shooting (3-15) O’Flaherty 1-7, He. Barker 1-3, Williams 1-2, Ho. Barker 0-2, Delph 0-1.
Sheridan rebounds (25) Raines 8, He. Barker 5, Williams 3, O’Flaherty 2, Crail 2, Bates 2, Delph 1, Dickerson 1, Ho. Barker 1.
Sheridan’s Jillian O’Flaherty works around a Clinton Central defender during the Blackhawks-Bulldogs girls basketball game. (Kirk Green)