ELDRED – The Eldred Girls’ basketball team hosted the Fallsburg Comets on Wednesday night in a highly entertaining match that came down to the last whistle, before the Eldred Yellowjackets emerged as the winners with a final score of 47-45.

Fallsburg had the advantage in the first period, effectively getting the ball down in the blocks, where center Marilyn Santos had 19 points, scoring efficiently and often, giving the Comets a 12–4 lead going into the second period.

Eldred struggled in the first quarter and early in the second. Their passing was not connecting; many passes too strong or too short, or the recipient wasn’t focused on receiving the ball. This resulted in turnovers and extra offensive possessions for Fallsburg.

Right before the half, the Yellowjackets started to get their offense on track. They stayed to stay close to the Comets, who still held the lead thanks to consistent outside shooting by Joslyn Smith who had 17 points in the game, but their lead was cut to a slim 19–15 advantage.

Eldred came out in the second half and implemented a full court press that gave Fallsburg trouble forcing turnovers and knocking the Comets out of their game plan. Unfortunately, it didn’t convert to scoring on the offensive end for Eldred as they struggled to get the ball to drop.

At the start of the fourth, Fallsburg was in control, holding on to a ten-point lead. But Eldred kept pressuring, forcing turnovers and keeping them out of rhythm. The Yellowjackets started to pick up their offensive play cutting in to the Comets’ lead.

A win for Eldred looked as though it might be out of reach when they took a time out with 2:07 left in the game and were down by seven. With a couple of key steals from Avery Moscatiello and clutch baskets by Victoria Ryman, scoring 19 points to end the night, the Yellowjackets tied the game with 50.3 seconds left.

Fallsburg was unable to score on their next possession, and Eldred ran down and got the go-ahead shot by Sydney Furler, giving them their first lead of the game and sending the gym into complete bedlam.

In the next few sequences, the Yellowjackets walked the tight rope trying to hold on for the win; their lead was cut to just 1 point with 7.6 left and Victoria Ryman on the line for two shots. She made 1 of two, which gave Eldred a two-point lead and a chance for Fallsburg to tie or win with a three-point shot.

Fallsburg was able to execute a good ball screen and got off a quality shot, and the whole gymnasium held their collective breath as the ball hit the rim but refused to go down as time expired, and the Eldred girls and fans rejoiced in their improbable victory.

Fallsburg head Coach Ballard vented, “We didn’t execute down the stretch. In the first half, we moved the ball and made sure we got it down to Olivia [DeGraw]. We ended up getting away from that in the second half. We haven’t been in situations like this; these close games in loud environments, now we have some game planning to do. It was really loud; our girls just couldn’t think. Things didn’t break our way in the end, but this is the best we’ve played all year.”

Eldred Head Coach Margarum explained, “I just took over coaching the team. This is my first game, so I just asked them for a few things: let’s get more rebounds, let’s win the turnover battle, and let’s make our free throws. Our goal tonight was to be relentless, and I have to give it to the girls; they were relentless all night. We were down by ten with not a lot of time left, and they didn’t give up, and they found a way to get it done. That’s all I can ask, I’m very proud of all of them.”