Toledo Contains Onalaska in Overtime Thriller

Toledo's Candi Zion (#30) of Toledo takes a shot over two Onalaska players Tuesday night.

It's the loneliest place in the gym and Onalaska Senior Guard Mandy Reynoldson stood there. The Lady Loggers were down by two points with 11.6 seconds left in regulation with Reynoldson at the line for two free throws. “I was nervous, but I just focused and tried to shut out the crowd noise” she said. She calmly sank both free throws at the end of regulation in a 1A Girls Evergreen League game between Onalaska and Toledo. The Lady Indians came back in the overtime to capture a hard fought, 48-44 victory.

It was Tiffany Tornow though that struck the first and most striking blow a minute into the overtime. She hit a three-pointer and then sank one of two free throws 16 seconds later. Brittany Hope was fouled on the ensuing rebound and she hit two free throws to extend the Toledo lead to 43-37. Baskets by Reynoldson and Amber Durand brought the Loggers back to within two at 43-41. With 1:01 left, Candi Zion was fouled and hit one of two free throws. The Loggers cashed in on the next possession as Hailey Givens was fouled and made two free throws drawing the score to 44-43. Toledo’s next possession ended with a Candi Zion jumper that led to a 46-43 lead. When Givens was fouled again with 4.5 seconds left, she missed the first and converted the second. In an attempt to stop the clock, Brittany Hope was fouled and she stepped up to the line and drained the last two shots of the night.

Few could have foreseen the dramatic ending when the Lady Indians took an 11-2 lead after the first quarter. The Loggers seemed to miss everything. Later in the game, they improved their field goal percentage to a paltry 25%.

Unhappiness seem to be the tone early.

“We didn’t play very smart tonight,” said Toledo Head Coach Mandie Olson. “I don’t know if that was contributed by their athleticism. We came out very hard and then we lapsed. I felt like we were playing at a seven or eight and then we dropped to a four,” Olson continued.

Onalaska came alive in the second quarter, taking advantage of Toledo fouls and converting six free throws from a variety of Lady Loggers and two three pointers by Amber Durand but Toledo took a 18-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Despite tough defense by Toledo's Tiffany Tornow, Onalaska's Amber Durand (#25) finished the game with 18 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals. She played all 36 minutes of the game.


1:38 into the 4th quarter found Onalaska leading for the first time when Durand put in two more of her 18 points. The two teams then proceeded exchange the lead 5 times. With 1:26 to go Haley Hellem drove the lane successfully for two points a 37-35 Toledo lead.

“They are quick and they are athletic, and we could have pressed earlier, but we were more concerned with Durand then we were with the rest of the kids,” continued Olson. “That was our focus tonight to try and limit her touches of the ball. I think Tiffany Tornow did a good job on her.”

Toledo's Haley Hellem (#14) drives along the baseline during Tuesday's game against Onalaska. Hellem finished with 9 points, and 4 rebounds.

Candi Zion quietly accumulated 12 points but four other Lady Indians accumulated 6 or more points including Hellem and Tornow who both had 9 points each. Onalaska out rebounded Toledo 44 to 35 with Hailey Givens grabbing 10 and Durand 9. Above all, there was a striking difference in mistakes with Toledo forcing 32 Onalaska turnovers even though they rarely extended their defense.

“We decided not to go into a trap because they were so quick and athletic,” said Toledo Senior Post Ashley Coffey. When the Indians did employ a full court trap in the 4th quarter, the pace of the game sped up, but neither team seemed to grab an advantage.

Toledo is now 5-1 in conference play (9-2 overall) and will host Winlock on Thursday. Onalaska 3-3 (6-5) will play Montesano at home on Thursday.

ONALASKA-Amber Durand 18, Kalie Ritchey 9, Mandy Reynoldson 7, Samantha Gordon 7, Hailey Givens 3, Sarah Barnes 0, Erin Wrzesinski 0, Regan Givens 0, Amie Working

TOLEDO-Candi Zion 12, Haley Hellem 9, Tiffany Tornow 9, Kelsey Stone 8, Brittany Hope 6, Ashley Coffey 2, Sara Buswell 2, Nicole Ewers 0, Lia Lucas 0, Lacey Scott 0, Brianna Votaw 0

Onalaska 2 12 8 15 7-44
Toledo 11 7 5 14 11-48