Spartans fall after buzzer-beater

ONEONTA — If Oneonta's Sienna Wisse makes one out of 10 shots she takes from half court, then she'll miss the next nine.

But that is zero consolation for the South Jefferson girls basketball team.

The 40-foot heave Wisse banked in Saturday at the halftime buzzer during a Class B state quarterfinal capped her team's second quarter rally, and the Section 4 champion Yellow Jackets rode the energy of that surge to a 41-33 victory over the Spartans at Hartwick College.

Coach Pat Bassett was forced to deliver the Spartans (21-1) a losing speech for the first time this season, as their first loss was also their last.

State playoff berths have come to be the norm during the past decade for South Jefferson's Bassett-coached teams, and winning another Section 3 championship will likely be at the top of next year's list of goals.

This offseason, however, might be spent examining what went wrong during a second half in which the Spartans registered only 11 points.

"That was such an uplifting shot for them," Bassett said.

The downfall actually began with about two minutes remaining in the first half, when a Maddy Wetterhahn hoop gave South Jefferson an eight-point advantage.

"That was when we should have made our move," Bassett said. "But instead we took a step backwards."

Oneonta, which advanced to the state semifinals against Watervliet, closed out the second quarter with an 8-2 run, capped by Wisse's desperate connection.

Wisse entered the game as Oneonta's leading scorer, and her long shot accounted for only three of her 11 points. But it clearly swung the momentum, and Oneonta held South Jefferson scoreless for the final 5:47 of the third while engineering an 11-0 spurt of its own. Erin Wolstenholme, who had a game-high 16 points, kicked off that decisive run with a pair of 3-pointers from the wing.

"That shot (at halftime) gave us a big lift because instead of going to half down five, it's just two," Oneonta coach Bob Zeh said.

Wetterhahn paced the Spartans with 10 points as they ran the court, and pounded the ball inside in an effort to draw fouls on Wisse and Val Ridgway.

The plan worked, as Ridgway picked up her fourth foul just seconds in to the final quarter. South Jefferson tied it 33-33 with 4:24 remaining, but Wetterhahn's field goal from the block was the team's final one of the game.

Oneonta limited South Jefferson to a season-low scoring total, and the Spartans inexperience at playing tight games from behind became evident in the closing minutes. They consistently produced open looks, but sensed the mounting tension as repeated shots bounced off the rim.

Kate Bredin's bank 3-pointer with 3:55 to go gave Oneonta the lead for good.

"I think we were a little unprepared for a game like this," said Leah Williams, who played her final game as a Spartan. "We have never been down like that with so little time left. We kept making mental mistakes, and didn't have offensive flow."

Zeh said the key to the game was not allowing South Jefferson to regain the lead as Wisse and Ridgway sat on the bench late with foul trouble. He also cited the fact that the Spartans connected for just one three after halftime, after canning three in the first 16 minutes.

"In the first half we didn't defend the three well," Zeh said. "And we weathered the storm with our girls out for about three minutes there."

Bassett's thoughts were similar.

"We didn't take advantage," he said. "The momentum certainly wasn't ours. We had a solid game plan and we stuck to it. I'll take the looks we got, especially for Maddy. They just didn't go in. That jump hook has been a good shot for her all season."

The Spartans will return a majority of the roster next season, but, unlike last year, will say goodbye to the departing senior trio of Williams, Cassie St. Hilaire and Tapulei Vaveao.

"This was a special group of girls," Bassett said. "This part is always hard."