Olympia girls hoops downs Boone in overtime

ORLANDO — The Olympia Titans (15-5) girls basketball team beat the Boone Braves (13-10)  in a 49-44 overtime thriller on Thursday.

Going into halftime the Titans led the Braves 26-19. In the fourth quarter, though, Olympia struggled with low energy, affording Boone an opportunity to tie the contest and send it into overtime. 

“Other than the meltdown in the fourth quarter where we gave up the lead, I feel we played pretty well,” head coach Robert Carmody said. “And I love how they finished off in overtime. I thought they had mental poise, they fought through some serious fatigue.”

Powering through the extra period, the Titans fought hard to come out ahead.

“I’ll take it; it’s a win,” Carmody said. “Any win I will take — one point, twenty points, good team, bad team — and that’s a good team. Boone’s really well coached, they’ve got some great players.”

With 16 points during the game, Taylor Hair was the high scorer for Olympia, followed by Tiana Spikes with 12 points.

“(Taylor) had a great game. We looked for her (early in the contest) and then we kind of got out of that in the third and fourth quarter,” Carmody said. “She had a big first half, and then she had to earn her way into points off of rebounds in the second half.”

Now, with just four games remaining before the district tournament begins on Jan. 27, the Titans are hopeful that they can bring a level of sustained energy and intensity the rest of the way and continue piling up wins.

“It seems to be that when they’re more into the game, they take it and they fly,” assistant coach Delina Clark said, also highlighting a need for improved rebounding by the team.

The Titans will take their home court again on Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m. against Lyman High School.