GARDNER — What a poetic way to end the summer season for the Mahar B girls summer basketball team.
After going winless nearly the entire summer season, Mahar B defeated Gardner 37-36 in overtime Wednesday, all thanks to a 3-pointer from Natalie Belloli at the buzzer.
It was the second win in a row for the Mahar B team, which defeated Fitchburg 26-23 on Monday.
“I’m so happy for the girls because when we started this season, I just expected we were going to take a lot of beatings and start hanging our heads, and they never did,” said Mahar B summer coach Pat Kaltner. “Whether we were down 30 or a game like this, they just came in fighting every day. They’re just awesome. I’m proud of them.”
Belloli sent the game into overtime when she connected on a shot from what seemed like 3 feet beyond the arc. As time expired, Belloli’s shot hit the inner portion of the rim and sent the game into overtime tied at 34. It was a play largely created by Ava Liberty, who got the defensive rebound and took the ball into the offensive zone with three seconds left and quickly dished the ball to Belloli.
“What a great shot by Natalie,” said Kaltner. “I didn’t think we would get a shot off. They showed some real poise at the end, too.”
Liberty again came up clutch in overtime.
Down 36-35 with 54 seconds left, Liberty stole the ball under the hoop and took it all the way to the rim to put her team up 37-36. Then, with 15 seconds left in overtime, Sienna Moore (six points) jumped in front of a pass to prevent Gardner from doing anything with the final possession of the game.
“She’s made some real strides. A lot of them have,” said Kaltner. “It seems like the last few games they have just decided we’re not taking it anymore, you know. It was awesome.”
The heroics came after Mahar B led by as much as 12 points in the second half, going up 26-14 with 13 minutes and 50 seconds left in the second half.
Mahar B went into safety mode and played four wide at half-court on the offensive side of the ball, which allowed Gardner to go on a 18-2 run and take a 32-28 lead with less than four minutes left in the game.
“That was a coaching mistake,” said Kaltner. “I said ‘OK, we’re up 12, we don’t have to hurry.’ Twelve is a lot of points, especially with running time. I said, ‘Take your time’ and they took that as, ‘Let’s go into the stall.’ I let it go too long and Gardner wasn’t coming out (to half-court) to play us, so I decided to use some clock and I didn’t stop them in time.”
Belloli lead the team with 13 points, while Kendra Doane scored 10 points. Haylee Allen and Brook Kennedy shared a team-high six rebounds.
Mahar B used an 8-0 to lead 20-12 by halftime. Belloli had a large hand in the run, generating six points, including a steal that turned into a layup with three seconds left in the half. Gardner led 7-3 at the halfway point of the first half.