David slays Goliath

Hoylman banked home a 22-foot 3-pointer with 31 seconds left in regulation and the Riverhawk defense made two defensive stands down the stretch in a 50-49 defeat of the state’s No. 1-ranked 6A girls’ basketball team, Sheldon, Tuesday at Kurtz Gym in The Dalles.

With one minute and 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Sheldon had possession up 49-47, and Georgetown University commit Autumn Baumgartner had the ball in her hands.

After her missed layup, TD grabbed the defensive rebound and Hoylman retrieved a pass and rushed up the floor.

With some room to shoot from beyond the arc, the junior squared up and took the shot.

The ball kissed off the glass and into the net, giving TD its first lead of the second half, 50-49.

“It was a rough shot choice that did not come off my hand great and I did not think it was going in,” Hoylman said. “I know it was great that it went in and everything, but that was not how we got here. Everyone was shooting well and our defense was phenomenal. That is how we won that game.”

With the contributions of Ivorie Taylor, Jennifer Bonham and Sierra Watson, the Riverhawks used every ounce of energy to stop an Irish hoops team that was riding a four-game win streak and had averaged 71.7 points a game in that span.

After a timeout with 23.9 seconds left, Baumgartner once again had the ball with a chance to return the favor.

With Watson draped all over her, the Sheldon senior missed a jumper and TD grabbed the rebound.

TD had an opportunity to increase their advantage from the free throw line with 9.1 seconds left, but misfired on two shots.

Baumgartner made one final dash up the floor and missed a pull-up jumper from just outside the free throw line as the clock struck zeroes.

“Everybody was saying that we didn’t have a chance tonight, so it gave us the drive to do our very best and we showed up,” Watson said. “We just had to have confidence in each other, we had to work together as a team, have good passes and get into the right spots and in position to make plays. This is a really good team that we played today. Beating them gives us a boost in our confidence.”

With several Riverhawk guards in foul trouble, TD coach Dan Telles gave the task of stopping Baumgartner to Watson.

Baumgartner scored 20 points, but was scoreless in the fourth quarter, including three straight misses in the final 40 seconds.

“It does make me feel good because coach was like, ‘You got 24,’ ‘You got 24’ and so I did the best that I could against her,” Watson said. “I am very proud of myself. When coach gave me that challenge, it made me want to do better, it just made me want to go to the next level.”

Things looked as though they were not going to extend into any last-second shots, as The Dalles led by as much as 10 points with two minutes left in the first half.

Sheldon battled back to even the score at 29-apiece at halftime.

The Irish increased their lead to 38-32 at one point in the third quarter, but the Hawks used two free throws by Brook McCall, and back-to-back layups by Bonham to tie the score at 38.

Taylor would later add two straight layups to give TD a 42-41 lead, but Sheldon post Hope Green-Brooks hit a basket at the buzzer to give her team a 43-42 lead entering the final period.

Sheldon led 49-44 midway with five minutes left in the game after a 3-pointer from Alyssa Barclay, but went on to miss its final seven shots, committed two turnovers and missed a front-end free throw.

“A long trip, on the road, against a good program and well-coached, they made good adjustments and just outplayed us,” said Sheldon head coach Brian Brancato. “We struggled getting shots to fall and it didn’t allow us to get any separation and it didn’t allow us to play defense the way we wanted to. They handled the pressure really well with us and they made their shots.”

The Dalles made 20 field goals, three from 3-point territory, and added 7 of 18 free throws, 3 for 10 in the fourth quarter.

Iliana Telles had 11 points, six assists and seven rebounds, Bonham added nine points and four rebounds, and McCall ended the night with nine points, eight rebounds and two blocks.

TD outrebounded Sheldon 32-20, 26 of those boards coming on the defensive end. TD committed 32 turnovers to Sheldon’s 13, and the Hawks had 13 assists on 20 field goals.

Along with her 20 points, Baumgartner tallied three rebounds, five steals and an assist.

Green-Brooks finished with 14 rebounds and three steals to go with her seven points, and Jessica Anderson scored seven points and posted two blocks.

“This is what preseason games against good competition is all about,” said TD coach Craig Compton. “It doesn’t get any better than this. The nice thing about tonight was that everybody that got on the floor contributed something, whether it was a rebound, a defensive play, or a basket or a pass that led to a basket. It took the whole team to do the job tonight. It is incredible really.”

TD, the 5A’s No. 9 team, plays at 6A Centennial (1-3) a 6 p.m. Friday.