Sharks win triple OT thriller over Nardin
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Sacred Heart and Nardin have had many battles on the court over the years but last Friday's regular season finale added another twist to their rivalry.

The Sharks defeated the Gators, 57-47, in triple overtime before a crowd of 1,000 at Villa Maria College.

"I didn't think it was ever going to end," said Sacred Heart coach Sr. Maria Pares, who has never coached a triple overtime basketball game.

The win gave each team a share of the Monsignor Martin Association division title with identical 12-1 records. Nardin won the first league matchup over Sacred Heart, 44-38, on Jan. 31, at Canisius High School.

The Sharks had to come back twice in the extra session to pick up the victory. Senior Liz Subjeck scored on a putback with 24 seconds remaining to tie the game at 43-43 in the first overtime and classmate Katie Keller (14 points) hit two free throws with 10 seconds left in the second overtime to tie the game at 47-47.

It was all Sharks in the third overtime. Liz Tramposch, who subbed in for Subjeck, had a layup off the opening tip and Krystal Watson scored the last eight points of the game. Watson finished with a game-high 17 points.

Nardin led, 18-14, at halftime but suffered a huge loss when their best player, Kendra Brim, left the game in the middle of the second quarter with a sprained ankle. Brim only scored three points.

After the game, Nardin won a coin flip to determine the No. 1 seed for the MMA playoffs. The Gators will play Mt. Mercy at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at Canisius College following Sacred Heart's game with Nichols at 6 p.m. The consolation finals and finals are at 3:30 and 5:15 p.m, respectively, on Sunday, also at Canisius.

Sacred Heart finished the regular season 22-1. Their only other game last week was a 68-51 home win over Mt. Mercy. Keller (15) and Subjeck (12) scored in double figures for the Sharks.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com