By RUSSELL JONES
The Otter Valley girls held their senior night as they hosted Rutland for the final game of the season on Saturday. Seniors Kele Parks and Felicity Drew were honored before the game.
Rutland came into the contest with a 12-5 record, but were dealing with two straight losses and looking to turn it around in the final game. The Otters came in hoping to win the final home game and improve to 7-13.
Things got off to a slow start for Otter Valley. A tough press defense by Rutland kept the Otter girls on their toes and they spent very little time in the first half in the offensive end.
Rutland had four team fouls in the first period and a free throw after a made basket by Leah Pinkowsi at the end of the quarter took the score to 5 to 9 in favor of the Raiders.
The second quarter saw more of the same as Rutland’s tough defense made it difficult for the Otters to penetrate on the offensive end, while the lights out shooting by the Raiders racked up the score. Elise Magro for Rutland had five three-pointers at game’s end.
The Rutland girls outscored the Otters 7-14 in the second quarter and OV went to the locker room at the half with a 12-25 deficit.
After a bucket and a three by Magro to take the score to 30-12, OV Coach Kelly Trayah called a timeout to settle his team down.
The Raiders shooters stayed hot though, and when the buzzer sounded the final score was 47-21 for a Rutland victory.
The OV squad was led by Pinkowski with seven points and Alia Edmunds, who scored five points.
The Otters finish the season with a record of 6-14 and will be a 13-seed in the tournament bracket. They will take on the 16-4 Lake Region Union High School on Tuesday in Barton at 7 p.m.
