NEWCASTLE – After blowing a late eight-point lead and going into overtime, the Torrington Lady Trailblazers regained composure and Adia Sherbeyn knocked down a shot at the buzzer to give Torrington a 38-37 road conference win Friday over Newcastle.
“In this game, we had the good, the bad and the good again,” coach Jeff Halley said of the rollercoaster of a game.
The Lady Blazers managed to take a halftime lead up 23-18. In the second half, they slowly increased that advantage and with 1:33 left in the fourth quarter, Torrington was up over Newcastle 34-26.
“We haven’t been in a place to close out a game in a while and it showed,” Halley said. “The girls got a little tight and we missed some free throws. Then all of a sudden it is a tie game and we are heading into overtime.”
Newcastle picked up where it left off in regulation, knocking down a three-pointer to open overtime, putting the Lady Blazers in an early hole. Torrington cut the Lady Dogie lead to one and got a shot off, but it didn’t fall. Possession remained with the Lady Blazers and they drew up a play for Logan Murphy.
“Our girls never panicked,” Halley said. “We set up a play and got Logan a good look… but Adia was right there for the loose ball and hit a shot as time expired.”
Murphy was the top scorer for the Lady Blazers, pouring in 13 points on 6-of-16 shooting. She finished the night with a double-double, tallying 14 rebounds, along with four steals and a block.
Dani Masterson was the second-leading scorer for Torrington, netting seven points, along with three boards and a steal. Sherbeyn scored six points on the night, including her buzzer-beater in overtime. The senior rounded out her stat line with three rebounds and five steals.
Chrissy Lira, who had four boards and a block, chipped in four points, while Laura Halley and Taylor Walsh contributed three points apiece. The two combined for a rebound, a steal and a block. Hailey Hashman’s two points rounded out the scoring for the Lady Blazers. The senior finished the night with four rebounds.
Brooklyn Tucker was a menace on defense, tallying team-highs with seven steals and two blocks, along with eight rebounds.
Torrington now sits at 3-6 on the season with a 1-0 record against conference opponents. The Lady Blazers return to the floor Thursday to take on Mitchell, Neb. at 6:30 p.m.
“We will definitely take the win, but it does show some things that we need to work on,” Halley said. “We will face a very good team this week in Mitchell and we will have to shore up our defense and turnovers to give ourselves a chance to pull out another W.”
