Sheridan girls get season sweep of Dayton ; Pirate boys end four-game skid
Senior guard Chloe Ayala led the Sheridan Spartans (8-7, 4-5) with 14 points, and sank a three-pointer buzzer beater in a nail-biter 49-42 victory against the Dayton Pirates (8-10, 4-6) on Monday in league play.
Ayala pushed the Spartan offense forward in the fourth quarter, driving to the high key and drawing the defense and dishing passes to senior center Taylor Givens in the post. One of those went for an easy bucket and 36-27 lead.
The visiting Dayton Pirates trailed 41-33 with 2:56 minutes remaining in the game, but closed in to three points after a block by Isabella Lopez, five points by Hadley Hughes including a free throw, and Rylie Hedgecock scoring off an offensive rebound.
With 47 seconds remaining, the Pirates held on 43-40. Then Sheridan turned the ball over under the Pirate’s hoop.
Dayton had the opportunity to tie the game on an inbound play, but in the scuffle, Sheridan regained possession and broke into a fast break.
Spartan guard Meleena Montano drove to the hoop, but two Dayton defenders were there to stop her at the block.
Montano drew the foul and visited the free throw line. She did her signature three dribbles and went two-for-two, giving Sheridan a 45-40 lead with 32 seconds on the clock.
The next play, Givens stole a pass at the high post at 23 seconds and again Sheridan thundered down the court. The ball got to the Sheridan post, but Dayton was there first.
The Pirates put up a shot and Hadley Hughes nabbed the offensive rebound and put up a lay-in making it 45-42 with seven seconds on the clock.
Dayton shifted to full court defense and Isabella Lopez was on ball and hounding Ayala in the back court. Ayala pushed forward until half court where a defensive foul was called at 5.1 seconds left.
Ayala made her first shot, but the second bounced off the rim.
Spartan Logen Watkins came up with the ball and as the Dayton defense fell onto Watkins, she passed back up to Ayala who was set behind the three-point line. Ayala dribbled one step to the right and shot over the Dayton defense for a buzzer-beater three-pointer, securing a 49-42 victory.
Ayala said, making the buzzer beater, “It was cool, I looked up at the crowd, at my friends,” she said, lifting three fingers like she had after scoring the three-pointer. “We were winning, I felt bad about it, but in the moment, I was so excited about making the shot.”
Sheridan head coach Jeff Lee said he hadn’t been looking forward to the game as the team hadn’t practiced together since Wednesday, Jan. 22. Two of the team’s players were splitting time between other sports and others were sick, and so practice was not possible.
“They played more selfless today and focused on defense,” he said. “Some players want to be that offensive player, but we’re playing because they play tough defense.”
Sheridan trailed 13-5 in the first quarter, with 10 turnovers. Their first seven possessions entailed five turnovers and two missed shots. At half time the game was tied 18 all and then in the second half the Spartans came out ready.
Lee said the Spartans are getting used to the “ebb and flow” of basketball and are learning how to slow down the game.
Regular scorers did not shoot well, with Watkins going three-for-eight, chipping in nine points; however, Montano filled the void and added seven points.
“(Montano) drove more tonight, which I wish we would drive more to the hoop as a team,” he said. “We don’t get teams in foul trouble as much as I would like, but tonight we did that.”
Sheridan’s Givens had 12 points and Sideny Bowlin contributed three and Neveah Stewart added two.
Lee said the victory over Dayton is just what the team needs: a boost of confidence that he hopes will transfer over to practices, and upcoming games against Taft and Amity.
“I told them at the beginning of the season that we could be where we are today, in fourth place,” Lee said. “Believing is half the battle.”
After the Monday night victory, Sheridan girls was ranked fourth in 3A PacWest League and Dayton sat at fifth. Sheridan is 2-0 against Dayton and tries to secure its fourth-place ranking in league, looking to the district tournament.
As of Monday, Dayton had played three more games than Sheridan, so rankings may change as the second round of league continues.
Dayton head coach Tom Howard said the Pirates started strong, leading 13-5 at the first quarter, but then fading after half-time, which has been a recurring theme for the Pirates.
Meanwhile, the Spartans have had the opposite issues, as they have consistently started weak and come out on fire in the second half.
“Our shooting was down,” Howard said, as many of the Pirates’ shots fell short.
In the final minutes of the fourth quarter, the Pirates switched between man and zone defense.
“Sometimes in the zone we’d go guard up top and get a mismatch in the post and then Sheridan would get an easy backdoor layup,” Howard said. “We’d be forced to play man, which was good and is a working progress.”
Sophomore Hadley Hughes led the Pirates with 16 points, nine in the fourth quarter. Lou Auvil added nine points, Nora Sherpard and Rylie Hedgecock had four points, Isabella Lopez added two points and Logann Jackson had one point.
Senior starter Valynn Gutherie was out sick and her absence was felt on the floor.
The Pirates have had several players out the past few weeks due to illness, as Hughes was out sick at the Jan. 24, Scio game, where Dayton lost 45-34.
Dayton boys basketball (11-9, 7-3) threw off their four-game losing streak, defeating the Sheridan Spartans (5-10, 1-8) on Monday, 57-48.
The Pirates starting five were down key contributors, senior Clyde Rosenberg, the 6-7 junior center and 6-4 senior guard Lane Garrison.
Rosenberg was out due to a stomach bug and Garrison is out for the season due to a compound fracture in his arm, which he sustained on Jan. 17 against Taft. James Newland, a 6-7 senior, has also been out all season due to an injury.
To fill the void left by Rosenberg and Garrison, Dayton brought up JV players and underclassmen to fill the bench.
At the previous Dec. 18 match-up, Dayton won 85-62, but on Monday, Sheridan led 9-8 in the first.
To start the second quarter, Dayton freshman 6-7 center Jax Brandon-Sanchez had two blocked shots and scored off an offensive rebound, giving the Pirates a 10-9 lead.
Dayton lacked the dynamic and basic fundamentals they are known for, almost dragging their feet where they used to soar.
In the second quarter, Dayton got their legs under them and went 26-13 and led 34-22 in the half.
Senior guard DJ Holloway tried to break the stagnant play by running the ball off fast breaks for a quick three pointer, but the ball didn’t fall until the third quarter when the Pirates added more ball movement.
Holloway led the Pirates with 21 points, shooting seven-for-11 at the free throw line and nabbing a trio of three-pointers.
Brandon-Sanchez added 14 points, all from the post.
Sheridan fought back in the third. Off an inbound play, junior guard Austin Verdino caught a cross court pass for a deep three as he scored six of his nine points in the third.
The Spartans nipped at Dayton’s heels as they trailed 46-38 to start the fourth.
The game turned into a bucket contest, as the Pirates lead bounced from back and forth from six to eight.
With 30 seconds left on the clock, Holloway drew a foul and shot one-for-two at the free throw line, giving the Pirates a 57-48 win.
“We knew it was going to be tough regardless,” Dayton head coach Ron Hop said, regarding not having key starts due to illness and injury. “We played well at times and we threw the ball away a lot, even our senior kids. They’ve got to take care of the basketball. It’s been a tough week and a half for our kids since Lane got hurt in the first quarter of the Taft game.”
Hop said seeing Garrison injured in the game was hard for the team, which due to being in the middle of league, doesn’t have the practices to reconfigure their team dynamics.
“We’re trying, but it’s not working,” he said.
“We’ll have to make do and guys are going to have to grow up in the game,” he said. “Blanchet is going to be physical on Wednesday.”
Losing the past four games also dropped Dayton in the rankings as they were 11-4 and now have dropped to 13th. Taft at 15-3 is ranked third in 3A.
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