Death. Taxes. Williamsburg and Bethel-Tate’s girls basketball teams playing an overtime game.
For the second straight year, the Williamsburg Lady Wildcats and Bethel-Tate Lady Tigers needed overtime to sort out a crucial league matchup between the two squads, and just like last season, Williamsburg came away with the win.
The Lady Wildcats earned a 50-45 win at home on Monday, January 13, improving to 11-1 overall and 8-0 in the Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference’s National Division.
The contest started with scoring runs by both teams in the first quarter. Bethel-Tate jumped out to a 6-1 lead, only to see Williamsburg storm back with 11 straight points to take a 12-6 advantage. The Lady Tigers closed the period on a 5-0 run, trimming the deficit to 12-11 after one quarter.
Bethel-Tate head coach Bernie Cropper credited Taylor Bee with the Lady Tigers’ hot start, noting the Lady Wildcats’ ability from beyond the arc was what made the first quarter close.
“Taylor got several steals early, got off to a good start,” Cropper said. “They were able to find the gaps there a couple times and hit threes that first quarter on us. They’re a good three-point shooting team.”
Williamsburg head coach Mike Madsen compared Bee’s play to a Lady Wildcat, senior Emily Hart.
“Taylor Bee’s a heck of a defender,” Madsen said. “She’s their Emily Hart. When Emily frustrates teams, I look at Taylor Bee and think, ‘That’s a frustrating player.’ She’s always got a hand, a foot, something in the passing lane. She’s a great player.”
Williamsburg pulled away a bit in the second quarter, holding a 20-17 advantage at the break. The third period saw baskets by Alli Stolz and Jenna Carter to give Bethel-Tate the lead, but a Paige Fisher three-pointer as the buzzer sounded tied the game at 30 heading into the fourth.
Bethel-Tate led 35-31 with just over four minutes left. Kiana Dauwe hit a three in transition for Williamsburg, sparking a 9-2 Williamsburg run. Bethel-Tate answered with a three to tie the game at 40.
Both teams scored again in regulation. Williamsburg’s three-point shot at the end of the period was no good, but the Lady Wildcats outscored Bethel-Tate 8-3 in overtime to clinch the victory.
“It was a great game,” Cropper said. “Play here or there, we could have won it. Our girls played really hard. It was a good game for people to watch.”
Fisher led all scorers with 14 points. She also collected 15 rebounds, four blocks and a pair of steals. Dauwe totaled 12 points and four assists. Thomas made a mark all over the stat sheet, finishing with eight points, four assists, six rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Camille McManus and Madi Ogden scored five each. Emily Hart added six points for Williamsburg and Madsen, who was very complimentary of the Lady Tigers after the game.
“Tip of the hat to Bethel,” Madsen said. “Tip of the hat to Mr. Cropper and his son. They do an excellent job with that program…They were prepared to play. We just made a couple plays, made a couple shots, made some free-throws.”
Madsen said Williamsburg’s early offensive troubles could be traced back to a difficulty getting the ball to Fisher.
“We were trying to force the ball too much to Paige in the middle,” Madsen said. “We reversed the ball across the court using our outlet from who was taking the ball out.”
While Bethel-Tate’s defense were making things difficult on Williamsburg, the Lady Wildcats were posting strong defensive possessions of their own.
“Williamsburg plays good defense,” Cropper said. “You don’t get many easy shots against them. They hit some big shots. When we left them open, they knocked a few shots down.”
Jenna Carter and Grace White led Bethel-Tate with 12 points each. Bee scored seven, with Madison Burton adding six.
The win gives Williamsburg a two-game lead in the National Division with four games to play and caps off a sweep of Bethel-Tate this season, the team picked to win the league title in The Sun’s preseason coaches poll.
“That was the preseason unanimous pick,” Madsen said. “The girls asked me, ‘Wait a second, if it was unanimous, that means you picked them too.’ I knew what we had, and I wanted to give them a little motivation. When the girls saw they were picked third, that motivated the heck out of them.”
Williamsburg’s schedule gets no easier from here. The Lady Wildcats return to the court Saturday, January 18 for a 3:15 p.m. contest at North Adams High School. Two days later, Williamsburg heads east to face another Southern Hills Athletic Conference foe, the Eastern Brown Lady Warriors. Eastern Brown placed second in the January 6 Associated Press Ohio Girls Basketball poll.
Bethel-Tate is scheduled to host Georgetown on Thursday, January 16. The Lady Tigers also face Felicity-Franklin at home on Monday, January 20.