New Oxford blows big lead but holds off Harrisburg
Even with his team up 15 points at halftime, New Oxford girls' basketball head coach Mike Sanders still wasn't comfortable.
He knew that Harrisburg wasn't going to go down without a fight in Friday's District 3 Class AAAA preliminary-round game.
"I told them in the locker room at halftime, that they are going to come after you," Sanders said. "We have to really be precise. We have to sprint to our spots and understand what we are doing in the press, and we came out and did the exact opposite. We jogged to our spots and they were giving us penetrating drives and we didn't take them. We did a poor job of executing when we could drive and when we had to pass the ball."
The Colonials' large lead shrank to just four points by the end of the third quarter. And midway through the fourth quarter, the Cougars grabbed the lead.
But over the final 3:30, the game turned into a foul-shooting contest, which New Oxford won to come away with a 47-43 victory.
"We showed a lot of resiliency in the way we fought back," Sanders said.
The No. 15 Colonials (17-6) advance to play No. 2 Cumberland Valley (23-1) on Tuesday at CV.
On mobile? Click here to view photo gallery
Friday's game featured a combined 50 turnovers, with 27 committed by New Oxford.
"The way each team presses each other, I can see that," Sanders said. "I didn't think we would have that many. I'm not going to dwell on it at this point. They were bigger, faster and stronger than we were, and we found a way to win the game, and that speaks volumes."
No. 18 Harrisburg (12-10) trailed 28-13 at halftime, but clawed back into the game by going on an 11-0 run to start the third quarter. By the end of the period, the Cougars closed the gap to 33-29.
Harrisburg captured the lead at 40-39 with 3:33 remaining in the game on a bucket by Ahmya Woodyard.
The game's final 11 points all came from the foul line, with the Colonials scoring eight of them. For the game, New Oxford was 14-of-26 from the foul line and Harrisburg was just 9-of-21.
Haley Luckabaugh led New Oxford with 14 points, and Taryn Crone added 12. Emily Clinton was a perfect 4-of-4 at the line.
Harrisburg's Tysha Brown led all scorers with 18 points, including 10 during the third quarter.
New Oxford 47, Harrisburg 43
Harrisburg (43)
Marshall 3 2-8 8, Tysha Brown 8 0-2 18, Woodyard 1 3-7 5, Waters 0 0-0 0, Isom 0 0-0 0, McNeil 0 0-0 0, Chisholm 1 0-0 2, Ransom 2 4-4 8, Thompson 1 0-0 2.
Totals — 16 9-21 43.
New Oxford (47)
Sneeringer 1 1-2 4, Sauter 1 0-0 2, Berryhill 1 0-0 2, Still 1 0-0 3, Haley Luckabaugh 6 1-4 14, Long 1 4-6 6, Clinton 0 4-4 4, Taryn Crone 4 4-10 12.
Totals — 15 14-26 47.
Harrisburg761614—43New Oxford919514—47
3-point goals — Har 2 (Brown 2), NO 3 (Sneeringer, Still, Luckabaugh).