Ford City coach Al Davis exhaled a bit and shifted his eyebrows upward as he strolled onto the court seconds after the conclusion of the Sabers' 38-34 win at Elderton on Monday night.
The game was a grind, as he had anticipated, yet he found the final moments no less tense. Ford City's quest for its second Section 1-AA title in three seasons seems certain to try his and the Sabers' nerves to the end.
"We'll take a win," said Davis, whose team improved to 12-4 overall and 8-1 in section play. "We're like the Steelers: We'll take it any way we can get it."
Elderton (9-5, 5-3) jumped out to a 4-0 lead and, after squandering that slight edge, remained no more than four points away from a tie for the rest of the game. The score was tied five times, including 16-16 at halftime, and there were seven lead changes.
"We knew it'd be a close one," said Ford City senior Maggi Russo, who helped the slightly shorter Sabers match Elderton in rebounds, 21-21. "(At halftime), we were all pumped up. We just wanted to get back on the court. It was a tie game, so we couldn't lose our heads."
The final lead switch came 1:37 into the fourth quarter, when Ford City senior Ashlee Panchik sank a 3-pointer to put the Sabers ahead, 31-30.
"(The game) came down to foul shots and attrition," Davis said.
Indeed, neither team finished with much of its starting lineup intact.
Ford City committed its seventh foul of the second half less than a minute into the fourth quarter, and the team's two senior starters, Panchik and Russo, fouled out.
The junior duo of Heather Davis and Maria Prazenica carried Ford City before and after their elder teammates exited the game for good. Davis scored a game-high 16 points, and Prazenica had eight.
Meanwhile, Elderton's junior point guard, Brianna Switzer, was ill and did not play. Senior Paige Baker was hampered with a sore knee the entire evening, though she still scored a team-high 12 points. And sophomore Jill Glover, the game's lone 6-footer and Elderton's leading scorer, fouled out less than three minutes into the fourth quarter; she finished with seven points.
Yet the Bobcats hung with Ford City to the end. Their downfall, more than injuries, was their inaccuracy at the free-throw line.
Elderton made 7 of 23 attempts at the stripe. In the fourth quarter, the Bobcats missed 9 of 12 foul shots, including all four with one minute left.
"We had our chances," Elderton coach Jim Callipare said. "They were just the better team tonight."
While Ford City will turn its attention to Thursday's section title-deciding rematch with Deer Lakes -- the Lancers (13-1, 7-1) won Jan. 3 -- Elderton will readjust its focus and strive to secure a 10th win, which will give the program its first double-digit win total since the 2003-04 season.
