Girls Basketball: Watterson rallies to edge Stallions, capture CCL title
Thursday, February 1, 2024
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com
Watterson’s Sophia Ziel launches the game-winning three-point shot Feb. 1 at DeSales. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Her team behind all night, and with first place in the CCL on the line, Sophie Ziel and her Watterson girls basketball teammates “dug deep,” as she called it, Thursday at DeSales.
Ziel, a 5-foot-8 junior guard who has been receiving college recruiting interest and came in averaging 16.5 points, didn’t score in the first half as her team trailed by as much as 14.
During the second half, the Eagles began chipping away as Ziel found her stroke and their defense tightened as they clawed back to forge a tie during the final two minutes.
With 2.1 seconds remaining, Ziel took a pass from senior forward Alex Mosholder, stepped into the right corner and drilled a 3-pointer to give Watterson a 40-37 victory.
It was the Eagles’ only lead.
“In the first half, we didn’t shoot it as well as we could have, but in the second half, we wanted it,” Ziel said. “We didn’t want to lose the CCL again, and I think that’s what really drove us. We hit a few shots to get us going.
“(Beating DeSales) definitely makes it more special. They beat us twice last year and won the CCL and this year we wanted to come out and win it.”
The Eagles improved to 13-5 overall and captured their third CCL championship in four seasons. They are 3-0 in the CCL and close the league schedule and the regular season Feb. 8 at home against Hartley, which they defeated 51-16 on Jan. 18 in the first round of league play.
DeSales is 14-5 overall and finished 2-2 in the league after winning the CCL a year ago.
Watterson’s Lilly Mulligan eyes the basket while DeSales’ Bridget Womber looks on Feb. 1 at DeSales. Photo: John Hulkenberg
“We led once (the entire game),” Eagles coach Sam Davis said. “That’s pretty crazy. I’m just proud of the fact that they never quit. Give DeSales credit. They were really ready, and we played kind of poorly in the first half. We made a little adjustment in the second half, starting our screeners in a little more, and Sophie is amazing. She just really shot the ball extremely well and really, really did a great job using her team’s strengths and making good decisions with the ball.
“They had 26 points in the first half and ended up with 37, so we ratcheted up our defense. It was a good team win.”
Both teams will learn their Division I district tournament fate at the drawing Sunday.
DeSales built a 19-7 first-quarter lead behind the hot shooting of junior wing player Bella Brader, who made three 3-pointers during the period.
Watterson trailed 21-7 with 6:30 to go in the second period but got back to within 26-16 by halftime.
Then in the third quarter, Ziel scored the Eagles’ first basket with 6:12 to go and hit a 3-pointer 46 seconds later to drive the comeback.
Watterson got back to within 31-26 after three periods.
“We went into halftime like, ‘We got this,’” Ziel said. “They usually shade toward my side in their zone, but in the second half, we switched up, ran a little more motion, and were able to get a little more movement. I definitely knew we had nothing to lose and that I just had to shoot it to get us going. (Hitting shots early in the third) definitely got us going.
DeSales’ Bridget Womber shoots against Watterson on Feb. 1 at DeSales. Photo: John Hulkenberg
“Definitely our defense has fueled us a lot. Especially in the second half of this game, we guarded Bella Brader closer.”
Brader finished with nine points but didn’t score after the first period. Still, DeSales went on a 6-0 run early in the final period to lead 37-30 with 5:03 remaining.
Ziel hit a 3 with 4:40 remaining and scored on a runner with 3:49 to go to make it 37-35. Junior post player Cameron Sparks scored on a putback with 1:42 to go to tie it at 37. DeSales senior post player Kenyetietta Quinn, who finished with seven points, fouled out on Sparks’ basket, but Sparks missed the free throw.
That set the scene for Ziel’s game-winner as the Eagles ended the Stallions’ five-game winning streak.
DeSales plays host host to Dublin Coffman on Feb. 6 and travels Feb. 10 to Harvest Prep and Feb. 12 to Hilliard Bradley to close the regular season.
“I just told them I was proud of all of them,” DeSales coach Erick Herzberg said. “We held Sophie in check early on like we wanted to, and then she just heated up and hit some shots. We went a little cold.
“We lost (two key players to graduation) from last year, but everybody else has got another year of experience. We go 5-11, 6-0, 6-1 (on our frontcourt), and I think we have a real good chance in the tournament of making some noise and doing some damage.”
Ziel finished with 18 points, including hitting two 3-pointers in each of the final two periods, and Sparks added nine points.
“I’m really happy with the effort they put in during practice,” Davis said. “They’re just a joy to be around. Our practices are hard but fun, and we’re playing pretty well. We didn’t play great in the first half, and everybody knows that, but I think DeSales had a lot to do with that. We played really nervous in the first half.
“Winning this helps a lot. We all hated losing Ready (to the CBL), but the CCL is still special and it always has been. It means a lot to our kids to win the league.”
Watterson players celebrate their win over DeSales to capture the CCL title on Feb. 1 at DeSales. Photo: John Hulkenberg