Dues hits jumper to help Cavs to victory

COLDWATER - Despite a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter, Coldwater still needed a late jumper by Kiya Dues to pick up a 52-50 win over Wapakoneta on Tuesday night at The Palace.

The Cavaliers appeared to be in control with a 41-29 lead and 6:42 remaining in the game. However, the Cavaliers suffered from complacency and Wapakoneta rallied to tie the score with 28 seconds left in the game before Dues' heroics. Dues canned a 14-foot jumper with 8.1 seconds remaining in the game for the Coldwater (10-7) victory.

The teams played the first half to a 21-all tie and produced five lead changes in the first 2:15 of the third quarter before the Cavaliers cranked up the intensity. The Cavs' Courtney Wellman drilled a three-pointer from NBA range to make it 29-25 and then converted a steal into a deuce to push Coldwater's lead to six. Dues hit a pair of free throws and Janae Muhlenkamp hit a bucket to put the Cavaliers on top 35-27.

"It was a combination of our fullcourt (pressure) and we backed it to the halfcourt," said Coldwater's coach Nick Fisher. "I think the flipping of those two put them off-balance."

Wapak struggled during the blistering run of the Cavaliers, turning the ball over on five of six possessions. The Redskins finished the night with 20 turnovers.

"That really summed it up tonight," said Redskins' coach Rusty Allen about the turnovers. "Start of the game, we had what I feel were unforced turnovers. In (Coldwater's) three-quarters (court) press, we would just throw it without looking. It wasn't like we were getting double teamed or anything like that. Just really silly turnovers to start the game off."

After the Cavaliers pushed their lead to 12 points early in the fourth quarter, Wapak began to rebound slowly as Coldwater turned the ball over six times in the quarter.

Sarah Kanney drilled a trey to put Coldwater on top 50-41 with 2:32 to play in the game before the Cavs went scoreless for over two minutes. Courtney Knippen hit a couple baskets and Nicole Brown knocked down a trey with 1:41 on the clock to cut the Redskins' deficit to 50-47.

The Cavaliers then turned the ball over on their next tow possessions and Brown tied the game at 50-50 after connecting on a trifecta with 28 seconds remaining in the game.

Rather than use a timeout, Coldwater got the ball downcourt quickly to set up a shot for Kanney.

Kanney missed a 10-footer on the baseline but Larissa Goubeaux got the rebound on the other side of the rim and found an open Dues, who knocked down the 14-foot jumper with 8.1 seconds left to put the Cavaliers back on top.

Allen called a timeout to set up a shot for the hot-shooting Brown, but she missed a 16-footer at the buzzer.

"We fight to get back in it, and I think our Achilles' heel, other than turnovers, was the offensive rebounding," said Allen, a nod to Coldwater pulling down 16 offensive rebounds in the game. "We just didn't make sure that we checked all five (Coldwater players) out. I think we had times where we had 3-4 checked out, but somehow that fifth person found a way to get to the ball. I thought we got a good look by Nicole. We drew something up with eight seconds and it worked pretty well and got the shot we wanted. Unfortunately, it just didn't fall for us."

"I think (Wapak's) playing really solid, especially of late," Fisher. "We haven't been in those positions a lot. It was good to hang on to it. But I give (Wapak) credit. They made things happen down the stretch when we got a little complacent."

Kanney paced the Cavaliers with 19 points. Dues scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half, including eight in the third quarter.

"She's been playing really solid," said Fisher. "I was happy with the way she rebounded tonight and defended. Just a combination of things she did well."

Sara Warner came off the bench to lead Wapak with 15 points. Knippen and Brown each added 11.

Coldwater hosts St. Henry on Thursday night.