Woodland, Watertown go down to the wire

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Woodland’s Cameron Caswell (21) shoots from the corner against Watertown Jan. 23 in Beacon Falls. Watertown won the game, 40-37. –KEN MORSE
Woodland’s Cameron Caswell (21) shoots from the corner against Watertown Jan. 23 in Beacon Falls. Watertown won the game, 40-37. –KEN MORSE

BEACON FALLS — With 1:45 left to go last Friday versus Watertown, Maddie Hupprich ended a two-minute scoring drought for the Hawks with a pull-up jumper. The jumper gave Woodland the lead at 34-33. It was the last lead for the Hawks.

Watertown gained a four-point advantage before Haley Andrews drained a three-pointer with just 9 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 38-37. The Indians held on though.

Abigail Collier (21 points) hit two free throws down the stretch and Watertown escaped Woodland with a 40-37 win. It marked the third straight tough loss for the Hawks since they won three of four and raised hopes of qualifying for the state tournament.

The Hawks (4-9) began last week at 4-6, but dropped a 72-47 decision to Holy Cross (12-1) Jan. 20. Carla Piccolo led the team in scoring with 13 points, as Woodland scored its highest point total of the season against the Crusaders. Erika Michie threw down 10 points and Jill Chicano added eight points in the loss.

Woodland saw a 20-19 lead against Sacred Heart Jan. 21 evaporate in the second half as the Hearts pulled out a 46-33 win. Cameron Caswell set the tone for the Hawks with 11 points and Becky Hale added nine points.

Woodland was poised to get back on track against Watertown (9-4). Despite six turnovers in the first quarter, the Hawks held an 11-10 advantage. The Hawks’ defense managed to slow down the Indians, but the same scoring opportunities weren’t available in the second period.

Woodland only put two shots through the cylinder in the second period, but each was huge and kept the Hawks within striking distance. Andrews (nine points) buried one from the top of the key and her three-pointer cut the deficit at 15-14 with 3:38 to go in the half.
With time running out Hale (five points, four assists, three steals) took off with a steal and banged one in off the window to cut the lead to three, 19-16, at the break.

“I don’t think our record 4-9 is indicative of our team’s ability,” Woodland head coach Jess Moffo said. “One thing we do for every game is to come in and give 110 percent and play with all heart just like we did tonight. We play proud. We had one day to prepare for Watertown. That’s a team that has won nine games and we did exactly what we practiced for, but just came up a little short.”

The Hawks held their own on the boards as Watertown had a slight 27-23 advantage in rebounding. However, it was 17 Hawks’ turnovers — helped out by 11 steals by the Indians — that took away one too many opportunities.

Woodland’s Becky Hale goes up for a shot against Watertown Jan. 23 in Beacon Falls. Watertown won the game, 40-37. –KEN MORSE
Woodland’s Becky Hale goes up for a shot against Watertown Jan. 23 in Beacon Falls. Watertown won the game, 40-37. –KEN MORSE

The Hawks came out in the third period and Piccolo (eight points, nine rebounds) sparked Woodland with inspired play inside. With 2:56 left in the period Caswell (four points, five rebounds) threw in an underhand scoop shot to give the Hawks the lead at 25-23.

The physical game of Watertown started to take its toll and Woodland seemed to run out of gas. Jenna Pannone (four points, four rebounds) and Jen Triana (five points, three rebounds, three assists) helped to close the gap as Woodland went into the final period down 28-26.

Twice Watertown threatened to pull away building five-point advantages only to have Woodland slice the deficit to one. A technical foul on the Watertown coach saw Triana sink a foul shot and moments later Andrews posted up and rippled the net for a three to make it a 33-32 deficit.

The two teams went up and down the floor over the next two minutes matching turnovers and missed free throws before Hupprich put Woodland ahead for the last time.

The game was decided at the charity stripe where Watertown got the more friendly advantage hitting on 10 of 20 from the line. Woodland only saw eight opportunities and made just two shots.

Woodland will play Seymour Wednesday, host Crosby on Friday and visit Wolcott Feb. 2.