Nazareth Area High School girls basketball team pulls out 61-54 overtime win over Liberty High School

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

By Eric Goldwein

The Nazareth Area High School girls basketball team trailed Liberty for all but three minutes of regulation time. But for the Blue Eagles, it was better late than never as Nazareth took the lead when it mattered most and escaped with a 61-54 overtime victory on Friday night.

"As a team we hustled as much as we could and worked together," said Nazareth junior guard Morgan Calabrese, who had 16 points. "We pulled through when we needed to."

Despite trailing for most of the game, the Blue Eagles (7-8 overall, 4-6 Lehigh Valley Conference) kept the deficit within reach. Calabrese's field goal with 3:03 remaining put Nazareth ahead 39-38, giving the team its first lead since early in the first quarter.

The teams traded buckets in the closing minutes, setting up a thrilling end to regulation.

Senior forward Christine Flannery hit a field goal with 30 seconds left to put Nazareth ahead 46-44. In the following possession, Liberty senior Jody Chickey was called for a charge, but Liberty was granted another possession after Nazareth failed to connect on a layup.

With four seconds remaining, Chickey found sophomore Kali Shumock for a game-tying layup that forced overtime.

"I was a little upset we weren't back on defense on that one," Calabrese said, "but we pulled through in overtime."

The Blue Eagles kept their cool, scoring the first seven points in the extra session while holding on for the win.

Nazareth junior Lennon Kramer opened up OT scoring, and a pair of foul shots by freshman Kassie Behler extended the lead to four. From that point forward, the Blue Eagles never looked back.

"I told them it's a new game now," Nazareth coach Rich Bickert said. "We got five minutes and we fought our way back, so don't throw it away now."

Nazareth has struggled in recent games, losing two of its previous three including a 55-54 heartbreaker against Bethlehem Catholic on Jan. 17.

"It was very big for us. We've been playing a lot of good teams tough and we haven't gotten over that hump. Tonight we did," Bickert said. "It was nice to see them bounce back as a team."

The Blue Eagles will look for their second consecutive win today in a non-league matchup against East Stroudsburg South.

Liberty (10-6, 5-5) can get back on the winning track tonight with a home game against Pocono Mountain West.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/01/nazareth_area_high_school_girl_10.html