ALBANY - There's no doubt in crunch time that Albany junior Hayli Peach wants the ball in her hands.
Peach scored a game-high 14 points and spearheaded the press break to help Albany survive an upset bid by Monticello as the Comets hung on for a nail-biting 46-40 win in a WIAA Division 4 regional quarterfinal Tuesday night.
"Coach (Mike Brunhoefer) told me that they needed to get me the ball so I could get it up the court," Peach said after making 4 of 4 free throws in the final 1 minute, 11 seconds. "I knew I had to put them in."
Monticello coach Tom Eveland was forced to juggle his lineup after junior Taylor Klitzke fouled out with 45.3 seconds left in the third quarter. The Ponies overcame the adversity of foul trouble that had junior Taylor Pfeuti, who scored 11 points, and senior Kelsey Bernet saddled to the bench for half of the fourth quarter.
Monticello sophomore Desiree Marty gave the Ponies a lift off the bench when she drilled a clutch 3-pointer from the baseline midway through the fourth quarter that gave the Ponies a short-lived 36-35 lead.
When Pfeuti did come back in with about three minutes to go, she made an immediate impact by scoring on a layup to slice the Comets' lead to 39-38. Pfeuti then made a clutch steal on an inbounds pass, which led to sophomore Becky Nelson's jumper with 47.5 seconds left that cut the Comets' lead to 41-40. Bernet missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 20 seconds left.
"I asked them to give me 150 percent and leave it all on the floor and they did," Eveland said. "The bad thing is someone has to win and someone has to lose and we were on the losing end. Our shot selection at the end with a one-point lead wasn't what I wanted."
The Comets made 7 of 8 free throws in the final 1:11 and the Ponies had two critical turnovers when they trailed by three points.
"At this time of year you can't look ahead to anybody or your season is over," Brunhoefer said. "It was awful physical both ways."
Nelson had a double-double with a team-high 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Ponies; Bernet added eight.
The Comets jumped out to a 6-2 lead early on after Peach drained a 3-pointer. Monticello answered by scoring seven consecutive points highlighted by Bernet's 3-pointer with 2:02 left in the first quarter to give the Ponies a 9-6 lead.
Albany freshman Carlie Peters gave the Comets a spark off the bench when she scored six-straight points to cut a one time seven-point deficit to 20-17.
"For a freshman sitting on the bench thinking she wasn't going to get in the game and I pull her name out of a hat, she did a good job," Brunhoefer said.
The Comets got 12 points off their bench with Peters and freshman Kirstie Kauk each scoring six points.
Albany junior Sydney Bump, who scored 13 points, scored the last three points of the second quarter for the Comets. Just when it appeared that the Comets would go into the half with a lead, Bernet buried a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give the Ponies a 23-21 halftime lead.
It was a nip-and-tuck third quarter. Bump scored down low with 4:58 left in the period to give the Comets a 25-24 lead. Albany junior Hillary Best came up with a steal and delivered a bounce pass to Kauk who scored to give the Ponies a 33-30 lead with 1:26 to go in the period. Klitzke fouled out at the end of the period and Peach made two free throws to give the Comets a 35-32 lead, which set the stage for a thrilling fourth quarter.
Albany (11-11) advances to the Division 4 Clinton regional semifinal where the Comets will play at Six Rivers East Conference rival Juda (12-11) Thursday night.
Brunhoefer was excited to just advance and play another game.
"They are a much improved team," he said, of Monticello. "We knew they would be tough. They beat us by nine points at their place. They (Monticello) will be a team to reckon with."
Peach scored a game-high 14 points and spearheaded the press break to help Albany survive an upset bid by Monticello as the Comets hung on for a nail-biting 46-40 win in a WIAA Division 4 regional quarterfinal Tuesday night.
"Coach (Mike Brunhoefer) told me that they needed to get me the ball so I could get it up the court," Peach said after making 4 of 4 free throws in the final 1 minute, 11 seconds. "I knew I had to put them in."
Monticello coach Tom Eveland was forced to juggle his lineup after junior Taylor Klitzke fouled out with 45.3 seconds left in the third quarter. The Ponies overcame the adversity of foul trouble that had junior Taylor Pfeuti, who scored 11 points, and senior Kelsey Bernet saddled to the bench for half of the fourth quarter.
Monticello sophomore Desiree Marty gave the Ponies a lift off the bench when she drilled a clutch 3-pointer from the baseline midway through the fourth quarter that gave the Ponies a short-lived 36-35 lead.
When Pfeuti did come back in with about three minutes to go, she made an immediate impact by scoring on a layup to slice the Comets' lead to 39-38. Pfeuti then made a clutch steal on an inbounds pass, which led to sophomore Becky Nelson's jumper with 47.5 seconds left that cut the Comets' lead to 41-40. Bernet missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 20 seconds left.
"I asked them to give me 150 percent and leave it all on the floor and they did," Eveland said. "The bad thing is someone has to win and someone has to lose and we were on the losing end. Our shot selection at the end with a one-point lead wasn't what I wanted."
The Comets made 7 of 8 free throws in the final 1:11 and the Ponies had two critical turnovers when they trailed by three points.
"At this time of year you can't look ahead to anybody or your season is over," Brunhoefer said. "It was awful physical both ways."
Nelson had a double-double with a team-high 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Ponies; Bernet added eight.
The Comets jumped out to a 6-2 lead early on after Peach drained a 3-pointer. Monticello answered by scoring seven consecutive points highlighted by Bernet's 3-pointer with 2:02 left in the first quarter to give the Ponies a 9-6 lead.
Albany freshman Carlie Peters gave the Comets a spark off the bench when she scored six-straight points to cut a one time seven-point deficit to 20-17.
"For a freshman sitting on the bench thinking she wasn't going to get in the game and I pull her name out of a hat, she did a good job," Brunhoefer said.
The Comets got 12 points off their bench with Peters and freshman Kirstie Kauk each scoring six points.
Albany junior Sydney Bump, who scored 13 points, scored the last three points of the second quarter for the Comets. Just when it appeared that the Comets would go into the half with a lead, Bernet buried a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give the Ponies a 23-21 halftime lead.
It was a nip-and-tuck third quarter. Bump scored down low with 4:58 left in the period to give the Comets a 25-24 lead. Albany junior Hillary Best came up with a steal and delivered a bounce pass to Kauk who scored to give the Ponies a 33-30 lead with 1:26 to go in the period. Klitzke fouled out at the end of the period and Peach made two free throws to give the Comets a 35-32 lead, which set the stage for a thrilling fourth quarter.
Albany (11-11) advances to the Division 4 Clinton regional semifinal where the Comets will play at Six Rivers East Conference rival Juda (12-11) Thursday night.
Brunhoefer was excited to just advance and play another game.
"They are a much improved team," he said, of Monticello. "We knew they would be tough. They beat us by nine points at their place. They (Monticello) will be a team to reckon with."
