By RICHIE HALL
SHERIDAN – For three quarters, it seemed like there was a lid on the basket for the Sheridan girls basketball team.
The Blackhawks were playing a solid defensive game against Rossville on Tuesday, but were having a frustrating night on offense. Finally the shots started to fall in the fourth period, and that sent Sheridan to a 37-25 Senior Night victory at Hobbs Memorial Hall.
This was also the final Hoosier Heartland Conference game of the season for the ‘Hawks, and they finished league play 4-3, good for at least fourth place.
Sheridan trailed 10-5 in the first quarter, but got back into a 10-10 tie after Berkley Williams hit a basket to end the period, and then opened the second with a 3-pointer. The Hornets got back-to-back 3s from Camryn Geheb to take a 16-10 lead midway through the quarter, but the Blackhawks finished the half on their own 6-0 run. A Jillian O’Flaherty 3 made the score 16-16 at the break.
Sheridan went ahead 23-16 midway through the third period, which stretched their run to 13-0. Olivia Raines made a basket, Heather Barker converted an and-1 opportunity, then Williams scored off a rebound.
Rossville cut the lead to 23-21 by the end of the period, but that was as close as it would get. The ‘Hawks went on an 11-0 run that ate up most of the fourth quarter, with Raines scoring five consecutive points midway through.
“We got a lot of open looks, but we just couldn’t get them to fall,” said Sheridan coach Jaidlin Delph. “The girls did a really good job of executing our plays so that we could get open looks. But Rossville was solid defensively, and we just couldn’t figure out how to get the ball in the basket in the first half. Thankfully in the second half, we were able to finish some more of those shots that we took.”
The defense deserves credit as well. The Blackhawks didn’t allow the Hornets a basket in the third quarter until the 2:05 mark, then held Rossville to four points in the fourth period.
“Definitely a better defensive half, and I think the seniors, with it being Senior Night, took it upon themselves and held themselves accountable to being really solid defensively in the second half,” said Delph. “I kind of got on them a little bit at halftime and they really showed some perseverance and came through and played a much better defensive second half.”
The seniors led the way: Heather Barker scored 11 points, while Raines added nine and pulled 11 rebounds. Sheridan had 20 team steals, with senior Holly Barker making four of them.
The Blackhawks are 10-10 and play two more games this week to finish up the regular season. Sheridan travels to Traders Point Christian tonight, then hosts Indianapolis Washington on Thursday. Both games start at 6 p.m. The ‘Hawks will host Sectional 40 this year, and play the first game out of the gate, taking on Frankton at 6 p.m. next Tuesday.
“Hopefully these next two games can help us get better for the sectional,” said Delph.
Sheridan 37, Rossville 25
Sheridan FG FT TP PF
Heather Barker 4-12 2-3 11 4
Holly Barker 2-6 0-0 4 2
Olivia Raines 4-12 1-2 9 2
Jillian O’Flaherty 1-10 0-2 3 2
Allie Delph 0-11 1-2 1 0
Katy Crail 0-1 0-0 0 1
Taylor Bates 1-4 0-0 2 2
Berkley Williams 3-6 0-0 7 2
Lillie Dickerson 0-2 0-0 0 0
Sierra Duke 0-1 0-0 0 0
Riley Reed 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 15-65 4-9 37 15
Score by Quarters
Rossville 10 6 5 4 – 25
Sheridan 7 9 7 14 – 37
Sheridan 3-point shooting (3-18) O’Flaherty 1-9, He. Barker 1-3, Williams 1-1, Delph 0-2, Crail 0-1, Dickerson 0-1, Ho. Barker 0-1.
Sheridan rebounds (36) Raines 11, Williams 6, Delph 5, Ho. Barker 4, Bates 4, He. Barker 3, Crail 2, O’Flaherty 1.
Sheridan’s four seniors – Heather Barker, Holly Barker, Jillian O’Flaherty and Olivia Raines – celebrated a sweet Senior Night victory over Rossville Tuesday. The Blackhawks played a strong defensive second half to beat the Hornets 37-25. (Kirk Green)