FHHS Girls Basketball Stuns Bayside In Overtime Thriller

The Forest Hills High School girls basketball team took home a huge overtime victory over Bayside High School 68-65 Thursday night.

Forest Hills (5-1) jumped all over the Commodores in the first period, outscoring them 21-6. It didn't look good for Bayside early on, but the Commodores managed to narrow the margin to 26-22 going into the locker room at the half.

Bayside (4-2) outplayed the Rangers in the third frame, and the Commodores took their first lead of the contest, 41-39 on a three-pointer by senior Cheska Mauban with 15 ticks remaining in the third.

Forest Hills opened up the fourth stanza with a three-pointer of its own to retake the lead. Not to be outdone, the  Commodores surged ahead with 4:12 on the clock, and built an eight-point advantage with 2:03 left in regulation.

Bayside committed three consecutive turnovers, which all lead to points and an eventual tie, forcing overtime.

The Rangers took a 61-59 advantage with 2:14 remaining in the extra period and never looked back

Hero: Forest Hills junior Sharon Rios, who drained a game-high 22 points had far and away the biggest impact on the Rangers' victory.

Turning Point: Down eight with two minutes to play, the Rangers defense forced three consecutive turnovers to narrow the Bayside lead to two points. Forest Hills also stole the momentum and never gave it back.

Quotable: "I have faith in my team," Forest Hills head coach Michelle Davis said. "They have great heart, this team. So, no matter what, they're going go and give it all they have. I called a timeout [in OT], we discussed what we had to do. Everything I told them, they did it as soon as they got out there. Besides a couple of missed fouls shouts, they played a great game."

Bayside head coach Stephen Piorkowski blamed the turnovers down the stretch in regulation for the disappointing defeat.

"We were up by eight points, we have three consecutive trips that result in turnovers, and they convert and tie the game," Piorkowski lamented. "You can't play basketball that way. You can't battle back and then turn the ball over."

Bottom Line: Forest Hills hit over fifty percent from the charity stripe, while the  Commodores struggled at the line, with the difference ultimately costing them the game.

Who's Next: Forest Hills hosts Thomas Edison High School on Tuesday, Jan. 4 at 4:30 p.m.

Box Score:

Teams

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Forest Hills

21

5

13

18

Bayside

6

16

19

16