Overtime rally propels South Central to crown.

Byline: Craig Holt

WORCESTER - Top-seeded South Central and second-seeded Clark University both played like winners during last night's championship game of the Worcester Summer Basketball League's Women's Division.

Problem is, someone had to lose.

But South Central, which squandered an 11-point, first-half advantage and went scoreless over the opening 16:45 of the second half, hit from the foul line when it counted, knocking down five free throws in the second overtime to pull out a 45-42 victory at the Greendale YMCA.

South Central finishes 12-1, its only loss coming against Clark on June 30. Clark ends its season with a 10-3 record. Clark lost to Morgan's and Worcester State during the regular season, but rebounded to beat the Lancers in a semifinal playoff game.

Both teams were the beneficiaries of outstanding individual efforts. South Central sharpshooter Kirsten Doldoorian, who won the Joan O'Donnell Award as the league's MVP, funneled home a team-high 21 points. Clark's Sarah Roderigue topped all scorers with 26 points. She buried three 3-pointers and scored 19 of her team's first 23 points.

"This whole team played for the South Central Sharks (AAU team) at one point, so we all came together again," said South Central's Lauren Grenier, one of a handful of former Oxford High stars on the squad. "We played Clark earlier and lost, and because of that we wanted to get it back. First half we felt really comfortable. But maybe we were too comfortable going into the second half. They got the lead, but that might have been good because we came back and pushed ourselves. I'm very proud of all our players."

Doldoorian's long 3-pointer with less than 30 seconds to go in regulation knotted the score at 38-38. Baskets by Roderigue (layup) and Doldoorian (drive) enabled the score to remain tied, 40-40, after the first overtime session.

South Central took the lead for good, 41-40, when Liz Zwiebel hit a free throw less than a minute into the second overtime. Moments later, two free throws by Nicole Simmler and one by her Keene State teammate Jen Cleaveland gave South Central its largest lead since early in the second half, 45-40. Simmler, another former Oxford High star, was a force off the boards in the second overtime, sandwiching two clutch defensive rebounds around her free throws.

South Central was on fire in the first half, swishing three treys en route to a 26-18 lead at the half. A 3-pointer by Doldoorian - a former T&G Super Teamer for Oxford - midway through the half gave the victors their largest lead of the game, 21-10. Clark, behind the shooting and driving of Roderigue, used an 8-5 run over the final six minutes to slice five points off the South Central lead.

Clark ran the break well and passed crisply around the perimeter to start the second session. They also did the job defensively. Two free throws by Hannah Lacaire capped a 13-0 run to start the second half, giving Clark a 31-26 lead. Doldoorian snapped South Central's shooting drought when she canned a drive in traffic and sank the free throw for an old-fashioned three-point play. She added a second three-point play moments later before sinking her game-tying 3-pointer.

"We came out kind of lazy in the beginning and fell behind by 11, but we came back," Lacaire said. "In the end, it came down to who wanted it more. We tried hard, but things didn't go our way. The shots just didn't fall. But it was a good summer and we all had fun."

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE: South Central's Leslie Lupien looks to shoot the ball around a double team from Sarah Roderigue, front, and Carleen Orawsky.

PHOTOG: T&G Staff/JIM COLLINS