Claremont
Aiken made two free throws with two one-hundreths of a second left to tie the score, then scored the go-ahead basket in overtime with just 12 seconds to play as Stevens, after struggling mightily early, defeated Mascoma, 38-37, in the season opener for both teams.
Aiken admitted she was nervous, but “I knew I had my team behind me,” she said with a smile that she said would be with her when she went to bed.
Aiken finished with 11 points and classmate Sydney Miller added eight, which wasn’t a surprise to Stevens coach Ivy Condon.
“I think I could see this coming when they were eighth graders,” Condon said.
It was a tough-to-take defeat for Mascoma, which seemed on the verge of winning its first game following an 0-18 campaign last season.
When the Royals’ Sydney Thompson drove the lane for a basket with 7:18 to play in the fourth quarter, Mascoma led, 27-16. Then the roof fell in.
“We don’t know how to win yet,” Mascoma coach John Billings said afterward.
Perhaps that was most evident at the foul line, where the Royals missed four free throws in the last 18.3 seconds.
“It all came down to free throws,” Billings said.
Stevens, coming off a 5-12 season and minus Kelsely Belisle, who chose to play unified basketball this winter, looked like a team with no chance early on. The Cards had just one point in the first quarter and trailed 18-8 at the half.
“We were sloppy and not taking care of the ball early,” Condon said. “That’s why I was so glad to see us come back.”
The final minutes of the fourth quarter were frantic. There was 1:50 to play and Stevens was still down by a bunch, 31-22.
But the Cardinals’ Emily Mudge found a seam and dropped in a drive. A Mascoma turnover was followed by an Amber Ferland one-hander and just like that, it was 31-26.
Stevens was forced to foul, and Mascoma missed four straight free throws.
That opened the door for Stevens just a crack, as the Cards made the score 32-29 with 56.3 seconds to play. Cameron Cullison made a one-hander with 43 seconds to go to bring it to 32-30. When Mascoma missed its final chance at the foul line, Stevens got possession,a and Aiken was fouled. There was a timeout taken before Aiken shot, but she dropped both shots through.
“Gosh, was I scared,” she said.
Mascoma got big efforts from Justine Martin and Raleigh Mansur with 10 points each and an 11-point game from Thompson.
Mascoma, which plays its first four games on the road, is at Kearsarge on Monday. Stevens goes to Hopkinton on Tuesday.