Olympus streaks past Murray in 3-OTs

Kael Ashton isn't professing to be a psychic, but he did have a feeling his 10-game losing streak against Murray's girls basketball program was about to come to an end Tuesday night.

"I told them tonight was going to be different," he said after his Titans won a marathon of a game 71-68 in three overtimes. "I'm 0-10 against them, but the last couple of years we've played them close or taken it to overtime . . . I think my team just believed me tonight. I really felt like we were going to do it."

One reason he believed the losing streak was coming to an end was the kind of players wearing the Titan uniform this season.

"This is the best group I've had," he said. "Lisa (White) is a great coach, and she's got an awesome squad. But I've got some pretty great players myself."

While the Titans got key contributions from nearly every girl who stepped onto the floor Tuesday night, they were led by senior Michelle Pace, who finished with 16 points despite missing part of the second and third quarters due to foul trouble. In fact, Murray went on a 9-0 run to open the third quarter and then Pace got her third foul.

Ashton sat his best player down and watched the rest of the team battle back from an 11-point deficit to trail by three points going into the fourth quarter. Before Tuesday's game, the team hasn't played as well with Pace on the bench, said forward Tenley Rawlings.

"She's such a leader," said Rawlings, who finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. "We always look to her, and sometimes we drop our play down when she's not out there because we're looking for her. But we just battled back until were in the game again. And then she came back in, and it's always a lift when she comes in."

Rawlings had the basket that tied the game with two minutes left in the third over time. Then she stole the ball and got it to Pace, who hit a jump shot and put Olympus up by two points. Murray had chances to tie or win the game, but missed three consecutive layups. Murray also missed nine free throws in the fourth quarter and overtimes, while Olympus was nearly perfect from the line.

"It was just an amazing win for us," Rawlings said. "Both because they're our rivals and because they're No. 1. We knew how important this game was."

The Spartans were led by Keshia Catten. She finished with 22 points, while Chavalah Washington added 14 points. McKenzie Jessop played well defensively for Murray with five steals and eight points.