By Dale Miller
dale.miller@theindependent.com

Unfortunately for the Bluejays, they couldn't get one of three key late shots to fall to hand the Trojans their first loss.

No. 2-rated (Omaha World-Herald) Cambridge went 20-for-36 from the free throw line, including 6-for-9 in overtime. Although not stellar numbers, it was good enough to hold off No. 7 Ravenna, 49-46.

The Bluejays had a pair of tries to win it in the final 10 seconds of regulation. However Madison Pernicek's 15-footer and Taryn McDowell's putback wouldn't fall.

Ravenna (19-6) again had the ball under its basket trailing by three with 6.7 seconds left in overtime. Cambridge's defense kept Mallory Irvine or Steph Muhlbach from getting a shot off and forced freshman Jesica Markvicka to track down a loose ball and fire a desperation no-look heave that was off the mark.

"We hit some shots maybe we shouldn't have and missed some shots we should have (made)," Ravenna coach Jeff Thober said. "That happens. It came down to the end of the game. (Those missed shots) are a small part of it."

Cambridge coach Andy Long was happy with how his team defended Ravenna's final possession.

"When they called timeout, we told (the players) to focus on the perimeter," he said. "If they get inside and score, we're happy. The girls did a great job playing the perimeter."

It took until the fourth quarter for either offense to get going against a difficult defense Ravenna's aggressive man-to-man or Cambridge's 3-2 zone that extended past the 3-point line.

While the Bluejays were mainly scoring on 3-pointers while going 9-for-28, the Trojans took advantage of getting 27 more free throw tries than Ravenna.

After going 6-for-17 on free throws over the first three quarters, Cambridge (22-0) went 14-for-19 in the fourth quarter and overtime.

"They called the game really tight," said Thober of the officials, who called 26 fouls on Ravenna and 12 on Cambridge.

Long said getting to the charity stripe was a major part of his team overcoming a 20-13 halftime deficit.

"At halftime, we came out thinking they foul a lot, so we'll go to the free throw line," he said. "Defensively we did what we wanted to do. The only things not working for us were executing our offense and converting free throws. We settled down and ran our offense up the floor."

Ravenna allowed Cambridge to go only 4-for-16 from the floor in the first half.

"Our defense was playing well and they weren't hitting their free throws," Thober said. "We were getting really good shots off in the first half."

However, the Trojans held Ravenna scoreless for a span of 4:22 starting with 1:11 left in the first half and went on an 11-0 run to tie the game at 20.

Neither team led by more than three points the rest of the way.

"They increased the defensive pressure a bit (in the second half)," Thober said. "It took us a while to adjust."

The offenses fired up early in the fourth. Within a span of 22 seconds, Cambridge's Bailey Soucie hit two 3-pointers and Muhlbach had one on the other end.

Ravenna took its only fourth-quarter lead with 34.9 seconds left. Muhlbach hit a transition 3-pointer and was fouled by Soucie as she came flying by. Muhlbach missed the free throw and Irvine couldn't hit a putback attempt, so the Bluejays' lead stood at 41-40.

"Ravenna relies heavily on the outside shot," Long said. "That's one thing we noticed. It was the one thing that kept them in the game."

Frankie Peterson tied the game for Cambridge by making the second of two free throws with 25.2 seconds left, setting up Ravenna's final possession.

Cambridge made three free throws over the first 59 seconds of overtime to go ahead 44-41.

Taryn McDowell tied it on a 3-pointer with 2:03 left, but Cambridge again went 3-for-4 on free throws over the next minute to take the lead for good.

Muhlbach scored Ravenna's final points with 50 seconds left to close the gap to 47-46.

The lone Bluejay senior had an impressive final outing. She scored a team-high 18 points and had game highs in rebounds (10) and assists (4).

Traci Keyser led Cambridge with 22 points, including seven of the Trojans' eight in OT. Soucie added 12 for Cambridge, which only had four players score.

After the game, Long was complimentary towards Ravenna.

"Hats off to Ravenna," he said. "They're a great team. We have not faced a team that plays defense like that."

CAMBRIDGE 49, RAVENNA 46, OT

CAMBRIDGE (22-0)

Peterson 1-7 6-8 8, Rice 0-3 0-2 0, Soucie 4-5 1-4 12, Keyser 6-12 10-13 22, Schultz 2-5 3-5 7, Long 0-1 0-2 0, Ballou 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-34 20-36 49.

RAVENNA (19-6)

Grabowski 0-5 2-4 2, Irvine 1-8 0-0 2, McDowell 2-10 0-0 6, Muhlbach 6-13 3-5 18, Pernicek 4-11 0-0 9, Achtenberg 2-6 0-0 6, Crowell 0-1 0-0 0, Markvicka 1-5 0-0 13. Totals 16-59 5-9 46.

Cambridge 4 9 12 16 8-49

Ravenna 6 14 7 14 5-46

3-point field goals-Cambridge 3-5 (Rice 0-1, Soucie 3-4), Ravenna 9-28 (Grobowski 0-2, Achtenberg 2-6, Irvine 0-1, Markvicka 1-4, McDowell 2-8, Muhlbach 3-4, Pernicek 1-2). Fouled out-Achtenberg, Pernicek. Rebounds-Cambridge 36 (Schultz 8), Ravenna 49 (Muhlbach 10). Assists-Cambridge 5 (Peterson, Soucie 2), Ravenna 11 (Muhlbach 4). Turnovers-Cambridge 22, Ravenna 23. Total fouls-Cambridge 12, Ravenna 26. Technicals-none.