Lady Dragon cagers fall in O/T

The Sonoma Valley High Lady Dragon cagers lost a heartbreaker Friday in the Sonoma County League championship game.

A questionable foul call on Kennedy Midgley with 4.4 second left allowed Petaluma to tie the game and send it into overtime, where the Trojans came away with a 40-37 win. A last-second shot by Sonoma’s Alyssa Schimm that would have tied the game again bounced off the front of the rim.

“I’m super proud of the girls,” said Lady Dragon Coach Jann Thorpe. “We made Petaluma have to play their best game.”

While the Lady Dragons out-rebounded the Trojans 41-33, they also committed 25 turnovers - 10 in the first quarter alone.

The first four minutes of the game consisted of one traveling call after another. The scoreless drought ended when Schimm hit the first basket of the night at the 4:06 mark.

When Annie Neles hit a deuce in the first minute of the second quarter, the Lady Dragons held a 9-6 lead but Petaluma ran off eight unanswered points in the next two minutes to take a 14-9 lead.

Sonoma was playing catch-up the rest of the second quarter until Neles hit a three-pointer in the final minute to give Sonoma a 20-18 halftime lead.

The Lady Dragons stretched their lead to six early in the third quarter when Annika Ginter hit a pair of free throws and Neles hit a basket.

But Sonoma was in foul trouble. Midgley got called for her fourth at the 3:26 mark and Ginter was whistled for her fourth at the 2:25 mark.

Nonetheless, the Lady Dragons took a five-point lead into the fourth quarter.

The Trojans hit three unanswered baskets to start the fourth quarter and take a 28-27 lead. A Kaliyah Hensic basket gave Sonoma the lead again, and a deuce by Schimm gave the Lady Dragons a three-point lead at 31-28.

Petaluma pulled to within a point with 38 seconds left. But turnovers by both teams added to the tension.

With 4.4 seconds left, and the Dragons holding a one-point lead, a referee called a questionable foul on Midgley which not only allowed Petaluma to tie the game, but because it was Midgley’s fifth foul, it cost the Dragons their post player for the overtime.

Petaluma scored first, but a pair of free throws by Ginter tied the game at 33. The Trojans used a basket and a pair of free throws to take a four-point lead. Sonoma managed to cut the margin to two, twice. With time running out, Schimm lofted a long trey that would have tied the game at the buzzer, but it clanked off the front of the rim and the Lady Dragons night was over.

“It was a fun game,” Thorpe said. But said it was a shame it came down to a questionable call.

Schimm had a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Neles had 11 points, eight steals and five rebounds. “Annie had a monster game,” Thorpe said. Ginter had six points and seven rebounds, Midgley had two points and five boards while Hensic had two points and four boards.

“They made a lot of fans because they play with a lot of heart and they play hard,” Thorpe said.

Sonoma ends the regular season with a 14-13 overall mark.

Email bill at bill.hoban@sonomanews.com