Nighthawks Go 15 Rounds, Get Ko

Night session

In the 15th round of Rocky II, Rocky Balboa came off the canvas to beat defending heavyweight champ Apollo Creed after the fighters pummeled each other all night.

The Tekoa-Oakesdale Nighthawks’ 61-60 overtime win against the defending champion St. George’s Dragons resembled that Hollywood duel.

The Nighthawks (21-9) earned the right to advance in the girls State B high school tournament when the Dragons’ (25-3) Dawn Trowbridge missed the second free throw of a one-and-one with .2 seconds left in overtime.

Trowbridge went to the line after Tekoa-Oakesdale’s Sally Palmer was whistled for a blocking foul as time almost expired.

The Nighthawks took a 61-59 lead on a Heather Brandt layup with 11 seconds left in the extra session. Seventeen seconds earlier, T-O’s lead had been sliced to 59-56 when Cara Longinotti nailed a 3-pointer from the left side.

With 21 seconds left in regulation, it was Longinotti’s straightaway 3 that pulled St. George’s within 51-50.

The Dragons had a chance to take the lead with 7 seconds left in regulation, but Liz Sadler sank just 1 of 2 free throws, setting up the overtime.

Going into the tournament, T-O head coach John Jaeger felt his team’s lack of tournament experience would allow it to go just so far. The Nighthawks grew up in a hurry.

“These kids parents’ are farmers, mechanics - you know, hard-working work-a-day folks,” Jaeger said. “They’re a down-to-Earth bunch who just work hard. We got the whole TekoaOakesdale clan up here. Maybe it’s the family that keeps ‘em going.”

Whatever, it sure is working.

While St. George’s full-court defensive trap forced its share of turnovers, T-O usually beat the press.

For that, credit has to go to a Stinson. T-O assistant Mark Stinson, that is.

“I’ve been studying St. George’s for five years,” said Stinson, son of Davenport coach Jim Stinson. “They attacked the press instead of waiting for it to attack them.”

Starting T-O point guard Stephanie Crider said composure was the key to attacking the press.

“We just had to relax and make smart passes,” Crider said. “They got us rattled, but as the game went on, we were able to keep our focus.”

St. George’s coach Ross Thomas was one of the few who wasn’t surprised by the Nighthawks’ advancement.

“Tekoa is a hotbed of basketball. They know what they’re doing, and they don’t rattle easily,” Thomas said.

“It was a great game,” St. George’s star Chrissy Peterson said. “It was disappointing someone had to lose it.”

Trailing 32-23 in the third period, the Nighthawks showed they were ready for the heavyweight division with a 14-5 run.