FREWSBURG - With a share of the Division 2 title on the line, McKenna Maycock spent Monday evening etching her name into the Randolph record books - right alongside sister, and former teammate, Marah.
Squaring off against host and rival Frewsburg, the sophomore poured in 40 points - tying her big sister's single-game record which, coincidentally, also came against Frewsburg, in 2010 - to go along with 16 rebounds to lift her Lady Cardinals to a hard-fought overtime victory, 73-69.
"It was bound to happen sometime," Randolph coach Shawn Huntington said of the record-tying performance. "She just rises to the occasion, especially when the game is tight."
Article Photos
Randolph’s Mckenna Maycock puts up a shot during her 40-point performance that tied a school record in Monday night’s Division 2 win over Frewsburg. See additional photos at cu.post-journal.com.
P-J photo by Rob Tucker
And this one certainly was.
Held to just eight points in the opening half and her team trailing by seven at the break, 27-20, Maycock came alive over the final 20 minutes of play. Aggressively driving to the hoop, she tallied 17 points in the third quarter alone, erasing her squad's deficit almost single-handedly and knotting the game at 44 apiece heading into the final frame. In the fourth, she scored 11 more, and was a perfect 5 of 5 from the free throw line, hitting a pair with just five seconds remaining in regulation to once again tie the game, this time at 60, and send it into overtime.
Given their poor start in the first quarter (the Lady Cardinals shot just 3 of 13 and trailed, 13-6, at the end of the opening period), just getting to the overtime period was itself a moral victory - one that would propel the squad to an actual victory just a few minutes later.
"When we got to overtime," Huntington said, "I knew it was over. I told the girls, 'We just took the game.'"
True to their coach's words, it was, as Randolph outscored the hosts, 13-9, in the extra period. During the four-minute overtime, Maycock, ice in her veins, was 4 for 4 from the line while a pair of youngsters, Megan Steward and eighth-grader MacKenzie Marsh, helped the cause by hitting two 3-pointers to put the game from reach and clinch for Randolph a Division 2 league title with the Bears for the third straight season.
Along with Maycock, Mandy Finch finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds and Peyton Terrette chipped in with 10 points as well.
The Cardinals improved to 13-3 overall and 10-1 in league with only a game against Cattaraugus-Little Valley remaining.
For Frewsburg (16-2, 11-1), meanwhile, which started the game on an 8-0 run and relinquished the lead just once during regulation (at the 1:40 mark of the fourth quarter) it was a disappointing way to end the season.
"We just fell apart," coach Jeff Collver said. "Mentally we were not in the game at all, and I don't know why. It was very disappointing. Shawna (Raymond) bailed us out a few times, but when we needed a stop or something, we just couldn't get anything."
Raymond bailed the squad out more than a few times, actually. The senior nearly equalled her Randolph counterpart, netting 39 points to go along with 12 rebounds.
But poor shooting as a team - the Bears connected on just 9 of 36 shots in the opening half - and missed opportunities was what eventually doomed them.
"We were in a position to take the lead and solidify it a few times," Collver said, " and we just threw the ball away. I can't tell you how many times I called a timeout and said, 'We need to run what we're supposed to run.'
"They were just running around doing whatever they wanted to do."
And while Frewsburg's second half was one of missed opportunities to clinch the victory once and for all, Randolph took advantage and clawed its way back, hanging close (it never trailed by more than nine points) before turning it on late and outscoring the Bears 12-6 over the final four minutes of play to tie it by the end of regulation.
"This is a game of runs," Huntington said. "It's a marathon, and we really hung in there. People stepped up, and we just went out there and played great."
NOTES: Behind Raymond, Reyanne Strong, playing just days after dislocating her kneecap, scored 13 points with nine rebounds and four assists.
RANDOLPH (73)
Maycock 13 13 40, P. Terrette 4 2 10, Fisher 0 2 2, France 1 0 3, Steward 2 0 5, Finch 4 1 10, March 1 0 3. Totals 25 18 73.
FREWSBURG (69)
Berg 5 0 10, Raymond 12 11 39, Strong 4 5 13, Cass 2 1 5, Knight 0 0 0, Gardner 1 0 2. Totals 24 17 69.
3-point goals: Maycock, France, Finch, Steward, Marsh, Raymond 4.
Randolph6 14 24 16 13 - 73
Frewsburg13 14 17 16 9 - 69
Jayvees: Frewsburg won.