Cosby holds off Clover Hill for girls basketball win

The halftime message was crystal clear, not that the Cosby Titans actually needed to hear it.

They knew they were trailing Clover Hill 29-19 after the Cavaliers lit them up with a 23-9 second quarter.

They knew their energy level so far left much to be desired.

They knew, at least on paper, that they were the deeper, more talented team.

Play with heart, their coach, Avery Scott, told them in the locker room. Get back to basics. Remember who you are, and, hey, just play Cosby basketball. 

The Titans listened intently. They responded. 

They summoned the spirit and passion that they’d lacked

As they did, they erased their deficit, competed mano-a-mano with the ever-resilient Cavaliers the rest of the way, hit their free throws down the stretch, and claimed a hard-earned 56-49 road victory Thursday night.

“Everything starts with us,” Scott said. “If we don’t play with energy, it’s never good for us.”

Cosby (9-4) led 10-6 after a quarter, then fell victim to an inspired effort by the Cavaliers, who have just seven players, all seniors, on their roster.

The dearth of available players could create a disadvantage in a frenetically contested matchup, but the Cavaliers (4-8) never relented, even when faced with the withering 1-2-1-1 press that morphed into a mobile 2-3 zone in the front court that Cosby ran much of the game.

“We came into the game with high confidence,” said 5-10 senior Mackenzie Schaaff (12 points). “We didn’t expect them to come out and hit all their shots, but we realized that fast and worked our way back.”

Sparked by a staunch defensive effort and three 3-pointers (two by Malia Imanredjo and one by Janiyah Pollard), the Cavaliers went on a 16-0 rampage that converted their four-point deficit into a 22-10 lead when Brooke Elam (17 points) banked in a transition layup off a turnover at 3:58.

“We learned that we have to bring it in the first quarter,” said Cosby’s Cambree Jeppsen, a 5-8 senior guard who finished with 11 points. “We learned that we can’t underestimate any team.”

As the Cavs showed that they were a force to be reckoned with, especially from the perimeter, Scott switched his crew into a man-to-man, but to no avail.

“When we were in zone, they started popping 3’s,” he said. “We thought that if we went to man, that would be better, but our on-ball man defense wasn’t that good.

“The cards weren’t in our favor in man-to-man. At halftime, we made an adjustment again and told them to go out and play the zone the way we need to play it.”

That, the Titans did.

At 3:40, Jeppsen secured an offensive rebound in heavy traffic and banked it off the glass to forge a 32-all tie.

Thirty seconds later, she scored again from the paint, and at 2:18 Schaaff scored off a baseline drive to give the Titans a 36-32 lead.

The Cavs were undeterred, however, and took a 38-36 lead into the fourth quarter thanks to three quick buckets, all from close range, by Nia Evans.

Elam’s 3-ball from the right wing at 7:42 increased Clover Hill’s lead to 41-36.

Predictably, the Titans fought back and trimmed the difference to 43-42 when Jordan Desper hit a layup at 5:20.

At 3:30, Jeppsen once again converted an offensive rebound into points to even the score at 46-46.

Miah Carter’s layup and Desper’s free throw put Cosby up 49-46, but 1:34 from the end, Pollard (12 points) drained her fourth 3-pointer to tie the game at 49.

At 1:06, Schaaff scored from inside off an inbounds pass from Jeppsen, and in the closing 45 seconds, Kennedy Whitaker (12 points) hit 4-of-4 free throws and Jeppsen 1-of-2 to secure the victory.

“For a lot of us, this is our third or fourth year on the varsity,” Schaaff said. “We’re used to situations like this. I think, personally, we’ve had rougher games. We just had to stay composed.”

Cosby shot 20-for-66 from the field, outrebounded Clover Hill 47-37, and forced 28 turnovers. The Cavaliers shot 17-for-51 and forced 19 turnovers.

“This was a big confidence booster for us,” said Scott. “We didn’t play our best in the first half, but we showed that we have the ability to come back when we’re down.

“Doing what we need to do in the second half shows a lot of heart. We finished the way we were supposed to.”