CLYMER - The second installment in this season's Clymer-Sherman rivalry played out remarkably like the first: a back-and-forth affair that was decided in the closing minutes.
Here's guessing that most area basketball fans wouldn't mind seeing the two teams square off one more time.
And if the two teams do happen to meet in the postseason, one has to wonder what Clymer's Dani Reinwald and Sherman's Elle Reed will do for an encore.
Article Photos
Clymer’s Dani Reinwald splits the Sherman defense in Monday night’s Division 4 game. See additional photos at cu.post-journal.com.
P-J photo by Scott Reagle
The two standouts continued their amazing seasons Tuesday night, but for the second time in a little less than a month, Reinwald and the Lady Pirates used a late run to squeeze by the Lady Wildcats, 67-59, in Division 4 girls basketball.
Trailing, 57-52, with a little more than three minutes remaining, Clymer (14-2, 9-1) closed the game with a 15-2 streak. Senior co-captains Reinwald and Jo-Linda Rhodes were responsible for 14 of the Lady Pirates' 15 points during the stretch.
''They did a great job,'' Clymer coach Scott Neckers said. ''Jo-jo hit a huge three and some free throws, Dani was great underneath when the chips are down the fire comes out in those two.''
Reinwald had another record-setting night with 32 points 29 of which came in the second half and a school-record 33 rebounds. Her 28 defensive rebounds also set a new school mark and she added five blocks and four steals.
Reed was equally- including 26 of Sherman's first 29 - and adding 11 rebounds, three steals and three assists.
''Elle Reed, what a tremendous game she had,'' Neckers said. ''She's a tremendous player. You're not really going to slow her down. My girls worked and worked and did their best. I'm happy with our effort. And I'm happy with the outcome.''
The outcome was decided by Clymer's offensive execution down the stretch, much like the Jan. 15 meeting between the two teams. In that game, Sherman also held a fourth-quarter lead but was the victim of a 10-2 closing run that gave the Lady Pirates a 53-49 victory.
''We stopped moving off the ball,'' Sherman coach Mel Swanson said. ''We've got to be able to move without the ball and not get ourselves into situations where we don't have a handoff or a pass. We just didn't move real well without the ball that last stretch. We didn't get the good looks.''
On the other end of the court, the Lady Wildcats were hampered by the foul trouble of Samantha Delcamp. The senior picked up her fourth foul less than two minutes into the second quarter, forcing her to sit for the rest of the first half. She played sparingly in the second half before fouling out with 3:17 remaining, which happened to be the time that Clymer started its run.
''She's our best post defender,'' Swanson said. ''When she's sitting on the bench she's not guarding anybody. She was in the game when we got our lead back but she fouled out and with her on the bench our post defense just wasn't as good.''
The game featured 11 lead changes and six ties. Clymer's largest lead was seven points at 18-11 in the second quarter, but Sherman immediately responded to that with a 9-0 run to take the lead. The Lady Wildcats' largest lead was also seven points at 29-22 in the third quarter, but the Lady Pirates erased that with a 13-4 run.
Fittingly, it all came down to the final few minutes. Reed converted a three-point play to give Sherman a 57-52 lead with 3:34 remaining, but Reinwald scored six straight points to put Clymer back on top by a point with 1:45 to play.
Following a Sherman turnover, the Lady Pirates worked the ball to Rhodes, who nailed her second 3-pointer of the fourth quarter to push their advantage to four points, 61-57, with just under a minute left.
Clymer made six of eight free throws over the final 30 seconds to ice the game.
Rhodes finished with 11 points and Carly McAfoose added eight with a pair of 3-pointers for Clymer.
Katrina Christmas had eight points and 11 rebounds for Sherman.
''I think we'll see them again,'' Neckers said. ''They're a tremendous team, they're very well coached. Odds are we'll see them for a third time.''
SHERMAN (59)
EReed 13 13 42, Rater 0 0 0, Delcamp 0 2 2, Yaw 1 2 4, DReed 1 0 3, Christmas 3 2 8, Hannold 0 0 0, Totals 18 19 59.
CLYMER (67)
DReinwald 11 10 32, Rhodes 2 5 11, Gilkinson 3 0 6, Trisket 2 1 5, McAfoose 2 2 8, CReinwald 2 0 5, Totals 22 18 67.
3-point goals: EReed 3, DReed, McAfoose 2, Rhodes 2, CReinwald.
Sherman 9 14 24 12 - 59
Clymer 10 10 25 22 - 67