Speedgirls survive Nimrods

BESSEMER - Bessemer held off Watersmeet's furious rally to beat the Nimrods for the first time since 2012 41-40 Tuesday night.

The Nimrods defeated Bessemer in the last six meetings with the Speedgirls' last win coming on Jan. 20, also at the House of Noise. Watersmeet took the first meeting of the year, 65-43.

This one wasn't a sure thing until the final buzzer rang as Watersmeet's Bethany Baldwin was stopped on a drive to the basket with a chance to win.

"It's a big win for our girls," Bessemer coach Richard Matrella said.

The Speedgirls led from the get-go, extending it to nine points, 33-24, with 7:24 left in the game.

That's when the Nimrods charged back with a 10-0 run to take their first lead of the contest, 34-33 on a 3-pointer by Frannie Zelinski with 4:44 left. Watersmeet took a three-point lead on a Bethany Baldwin basket right after that.

And from there, neither team got the lead to multiple possessions.

"We never quit; we haven't quit all year," Watersmeet coach Norm Ellenberger said. "We don't stop getting ourselves in a terrible hole either."

Bessemer's Allyson Metas tripled to tie the game at 36 with 3:30 left and Rachel Mazurek's basket inside put Bessemer ahead 38-36.

After Watersmeet tied the game again, Bessemer's Jordyn Maznec banked one in off the glass to give the Speedgirls a 40-38 advantage with just under a minute left.

After a Nimrod turnover, Metas split her free throws to put Bessemer up 41-38.

Baldwin's triple try to tie rimmed out and Watersmeet got a putback to pull within 41-40 with 28 seconds left. Watersmeet got a steal, but followed that with a double dribble.

Watersmeet had three fouls to give with just 14.7 seconds left. The Nimrods committed the first one and then forced a Bessemer turnover with 8 seconds to go.

Watersmeet went the length of the court, but a driving Baldwin couldn't get a shot off in heavy traffic. The ball got up in the air, but it went out of bounds. Matrella expected Watersmeet to shoot a 3.

"There was a lot of contact on that drive, but the way I looked at it, it was a no-call," Ellenberger said. "I thought the officials did a good job making a no call. The first quarter of the game you might have called it, but not then."

Matrella gave credit to Watersmeet's comeback, but also to Bessemer for how it responded to the comeback.

"We controlled a large portion of it. With their penetration, they hit shots when they got them," Matrella said. "We left them open, a couple mental lapses and they had three 3-pointers and some layups and then the game's tied. But credit our girls for maintaining their composure and not falling apart. We could have just folded like a tent and we didn't."

Bessemer slowed Watersmeet's offense down after the Nimrods scored 65 in the teams' first meeting.

"It was a combination of our inability against their zone and they got up and played us tighter and we did not get many open shots," Ellenberger said.

Matrella said, "Until the foul trouble got us, we played a lot of combination. We were playing three-man two zone. We know what they try to do, but we still couldn't keep Frannie out of the lane. Mostly, we didn't let them get too many open 3-pointers and we did a good job rebounding the ball. Down in Watersmeet, they hit everything, but they had open shots and they were able to drive the basket. We were able to stop that tonight."

Baldwin led all scorers with 18 points and Zelinski scored 13. Watersmeet played with just five players. Zelinski picked up her third foul with more than two minutes left in the first half, but she managed it effectively from there.

"The rules say if five show up, go play," Ellenberger said. "I've got a lot more things to whine about than if we only have five kids. I just hope we have five for the next game."

Trcka paced Bessemer with 13 points.

Bessemer (8-3, 6-2) hosts Washburn Thursday. Watersmeet (4-5, 1-2) hosts Phelps on Monday.

Watersmeet - Bethany Baldwin 18, Frannie Zelinski 13, Rebecca Caron 3, Jessica Barajas 3, Sierra Griffin 3. FTs: 8-18. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Zelinski 2, Baldwin 1, Barajas 1.

Bessemer - Megan Peterson 4, Allyson Metas 1, Caitlyn Pelissero 7, Valerie Rowe 3, Rachel Mazurek 8, Rachel Emery 3, Whitney Trcka 13, Jordyn Maznec 2. FTs: 4-13. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: Mazurek, Pelissero. 3-pointers: Trcka 3, Pelissero 1, Rowe 1.

Watersmeet 5 11 24 40

Bessemer 12 20 30 41