A season of long trips and tough competition paid off for Cordova’s Lady Wolverines over the weekend, as they rallied to defeat Tok in the closing seconds of the battle for second place and a berth to the 2A State Tournament.
Playing at 10:30 a.m. on March 7 at Lathrop High School in Fairbanks, Taylor Tiedeman hit a long three point shot over a pair of Tok defenders to pull Cordova within one point of Tok with 1:54 on the clock. Victoria Nothstine’s steal and break-away lay-up gave Cordova a 55-54 lead with 40 seconds left, and Cordova held on to win 57-54.
Tok used fine ball handling and sharp shooting to gain and maintain their lead most of the game. But Cordova rallied and outscored them 15-7 in the decisive final period.
Individual scoring for Cordova: Nothstine, V., 19; Nothstine, I., 15; Fry, 8; Baenen, 7; Tiedeman, 5; Phillips, 2; Pallas, 1.
The nail biter came after Cordova lost to Glennallen on March 5, by a 41-31 final. The Wolverines bounced back to stay alive in the double-elimination format with a lopsided 59-35 win over Nenana on March 6.
This set up the dramatic Saturday showdown with Tok, a team that had defeated Cordova 51-34 just two weeks before during conference playoffs.
The girls received awards after the Interior Conference Playoffs:
- Second Place
- All Conference players: Isabelle Nothstine, Victoria Nothstine, and Elisabeth Baenen
- All Academic athletes: Layla Philips, Victoria Nothstine, Taylor Tiedeman, Willow Tiedeman, Sadie Fry
Next up is the eight-team 2A State Tournament at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage in March 12-14. The Cordova girls, seeded No. 5, will face No. 4 seeded Metlakatla in the opening round at 9:30 a.m. on March 12.
