Blue Bomber juniors edge Lord Dorchester in double-OT

IDCI’s Clara Laidman (right) looks for an open teammate. (Jeff Tribe Photo)

Jeff Tribe, Echo Correspondent

The Ingersoll DCI junior Blue Bomber basketball girls enjoyed the joyful chaos of overtime so much they added a second extra frame before celebrating a dramatic 38-36 homecourt victory over the Lord Dorchester Beavers on Oct. 16.

“It feels so much better to win like this,” said Blue Bombers guard Victoria Blair. “You feel you accomplished something when you win like this.”

A little nervous pain came with victory’s gain for Blair, who whose free throw with 1:22 in double-overtime put her squad ahead to stay. Standing at the line, a gym filled with energetic cheering just moments before went silent as she lined up her first shot.

“It feels so much worse, honestly,” she admitted. “When you’re that close, you can hear everything a little bit louder. I could hear people breathing.”

Blair earned an exhalation of relief after finding nothing but net on her first free throw, a tenuous one-point lead extended by teammate Kenzie Pirrie. She ended up at the line after a pulling down a defensive rebound and working a high-octane give-and-go with Dani Gill, before being fouled as she drove the lane.

“Slight improv right there,” smiled Pirrie, who also knocked down her first of two free throw attempts with 28.3 seconds remaining on the clock. She missed on her second, but it went out of bounds off a Dorchester defender, giving possession back to the Blue Bombers. Five ensuring opportunities from the free throw line with 8.5 and 6.3 seconds to play respectively were unsuccessful, however Pirrie’s offensive rebound following the first series of three retained possession, helping run out the clock on a memorable two-point victory.

“That’s stressful,” laughed Bombers coach Becky Elliott. “Fun, but stressful.”

The game played out in part as a battle between IDCI’s struggles with Dorchester’s full court pressure offset by a distinct Blue Bombers advantage on the boards, combined with what Elliott cited as the nature of junior girls basketball.

“Scrambly, on the floor… they make some miracle shots and you kind of roll with it.”

Pirrie had nine of her game-high 18 points in the first quarter as IDCI built up a 10-3 lead over its visitors. Dorchester battled back in the second with two three-point field goals, cutting the margin to 15-13. A 4-2 advantage through the third pushed the Bombers back into a four-point lead heading home.

Blair stroked a three-point field goal with 1:19 remaining in regulation time to re-establish an eroded four-point lead, however Dorchester banked in a response 11 seconds later, adding a free throw with 42.8 remaining to square accounts at 31. The visitors took a 32-31 lead with 39.2 seconds to go, Blair answering with 26.6 seconds left on the clock on the second of two free throw attempts.

The Blue Bombers survived the scare of two unsuccessful Dorchester free throws with one second to play, Gill pulling down a contested defensive rebound on the second to send the game into OT.

“I think I get more nervous and scared (with OT),” Gill confessed. “But I use it to play harder.”

Dorchester bookended single free throws around a Gill offensive putback in the first extra frame, finishing tied at 34. IDCI’s Maci DeLong pulled down a defensive rebound, feeding Pirrie for a coast-to-coast drive which opened scoring in double OT, Dorchester answering on a one-handed 12-foot runner with 1:31 remaining. The balance of the game resulted in what Gill called a more interesting finish than their typical ‘win by a lot or lose by a lot.’

“It was cool to be part of it,” said Blair.

She contributed seven points to the Blue Bombers victory, Makenna Weber had nine before fouling out and Gill finished with four.

“This is the kind of game we’ve been waiting for all year,” said Elliott, a talented former Blue Bomber athlete seeking to help rebuild the basketball program. “Nice to win,” she added with a smile. “I’m not going to lie - nice to win.”