LINCOLN – The Overton girls basketball team struggled out of the gates in the first round of the D2 state tournament, but erupted in the final two quarters to eventually beat Paxton 51-27 Wednesday morning.
An early morning start seemed to be a sluggish beginning for both teams with a multitude of turnovers and missed open shots. Overton grabbed an early seven point lead in the first quarter before going nearly nine minutes with outscoring between the first and second quarters. During that time, Paxton would do enough to eventually grab a three point lead. Despite the scoring drought, the Eagles were able to tie the game going into the locker room due to a buzzer beating three by JoLee Ryan to end the first half tied at 15.
Overton’s offense would finally ignite in the second half, dominating the boards where they converted on second and third chance opportunities while also nailing several three pointers to outscore Paxton 23-8 in the third to take the lead for good. Overton continued to thrive in the fourth quarter and eventually the Eagles would outscore Paxton 36-12 in the second half.
In the win, Overton nabbed over 50 rebounds with 30 coming on the offensive side. JoLee Ryan led all scorers with 17 points. Natalie Wood finished with a double-double, 15 points and 13 rebounds. The Eagles would give the ball away 20 times and went 7-17 from the free throw line. In the loss, Paxton finished with 23 turnovers. Abigale Nicholson led the team with nine points.
Overton advances to the state semifinals for the first time since 1991 and will play Howells-Dodge. The semi’s are slated for 6:00 p.m. on March 1 from the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Listen to the game on KAMI 100.1FM, 92.7FM and krvn.com. Paxton finishes the year 17-10.
Listen to the game here.
