After leading her team to a win over Frankfort-Schuyler on Wednesday with 12 points, Mohawk’s Kaylee Luppino scored 10 points Friday night against Herkimer, with seven coming in overtime, and helped will the Mohicans to a 57-51 win over Herkimer.
Mohawk (10-5, 7-3) came out very slow against the Magicians (6-11, 4-7), who needed a win to get into the playoffs. Led by Sarah Meszler and Sarah Kinney, Herkimer went on a 6-2 run in the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second, forcing Mohawk head coach Linda Ptak to call a timeout. Herkimer led at that point 16-9 with 6:22 left in the first half.
After the timeout, a layup by Mohawk’s Karlee Platts gave the Mohicans some life, but that life wouldn’t last long with the team only shooting 7-of-16 (2-of-8 in the second quarter) from the charity stripe in the games’ first 16 minutes.
The Mohicans poor shooting from the line allowed Herkimer to build their once seven point lead (16-9) to ten points (21-11) with 3:24 left in the half.
The Mohicans answered their poor shooting from the line with solid defense, forcing the Magicians into a couple turnovers and a 4-0 run for the Mohicans before the half, giving Herkimer a nine point lead at intermission (26-17).
In the second half, the Magicians again came out strong from the field, seeing Lauren Delude and Kinney hit back-to-back three-point field goals in consecutive possessions, stretching the Herkimer lead to 14 (31-17). Kinney finished the game with a team-high 17 points and Delude finished with five points and five rebounds.
Answering back with their own hot shooting from the floor was the combination of Maggie Werenczak, Lexy Johnson, Karlee Platts and Christy Traglia. As a group, the four players helped the Mohicans to their best quarter of the game, a 21-point offensive surge, which was started at the foul line when Herkimer’s Samantha Carswell was called for a technical foul after a questionable call on the floor, forcing Herkimer head coach Paul Valasek to put Carswell on the bench.
With Carswell on the bench, Mohawk went on a 14-0 run in three minutes, bringing Mohawk within one (31-30) with just over two minutes left in the third quarter.
Mohawk eventually took a three-point lead by the end of the quarter, with a Traglia steal and layup.
The fourth quarter saw lead changes occur four separate times, with Carswell, Kinney and Meszler making big plays for Herkimer, and Platts, Traglia and Johnson coming through for Mohawk.
The game’s final minute of play saw steals from Sarah Meszler and Christy Traglia make the game more interesting than it already was. Meszler’s steal, her sixth of the game, tied the game up at 48 with 53.6 left in regulation. Traglia’s steal gave the Mohicans the final offensive possession of the game with it still tied at 48.
The game ended with Kaylee Luppino being fouled in the paint with 00.1 left in regulation. Luppino had two shots from the charity stripe, but missed them both to force overtime. The Mohicans shot 6-of-13 from the foul line in the second half.
In overtime though, Luppino more than made up for her misses from the foul line. With a three-point field goal and layup, Luppino created her own 5-0 run (53-48) within the first couple minutes of overtime.
It didn’t end there for Luppino, as she wrapped up the win for Mohawk with a steal and layup in the final seconds of overtime. Mohawk ended up outscoring Herkimer 9-to-3 in overtime.
Score:
Mohawk 57
Herkimer 51
Score By Quarter:
Mohawk 9-8-21-10-9 57
Herkimer 12-14-9-13-3
MOHAWK (10-5, 7-3) Lexy Johnson 14 points; Christy Traglia 16 points; Kaylee Luppino 10 points; Maggie Werenczak 4 points; Karlee Platts 13 points
HERKIMER (6-11, 4-7) Samantha Carswell 15 points, 11 rebounds 3 steals; Lauren Delude 5 rebounds; Sarah Meszler 9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 6 steals, 2 blocks; Rachel Waseleski 3 steal, 1 rebound; Sarah Kinney 17 points
