EMMAUS - Pottsville was in the middle of a big fourth-quarter run against Emmaus in Tuesday's opening round of the District 11 Class AAAA playoffs when something unusual happened.
The Tide had cut an 11-point Green Hornet lead to just four points on the first of two free throws by Pottsville sophomore Hanna Burnhauser when the Emmaus scoreboard went dark.
After a 5-minute delay to bring in a replacement scoreboard to set on the scorers' table, the Hornets had plenty of time to regroup and hold on for a 60-54 victory that ended the Crimson Tide's season.
"We were certainly on a run at that point," Pottsville coach Rick Wojciechowsky said. "Taking five minutes there gave them a chance to regroup and calm the team down. That doesn't fall in our favor, but you play with what you're dealt."
The Crimson Tide (15-9), who trailed by as many as 16 points in the second quarter, sliced the deficit to 52-50 with just over 2 minutes remaining when Sadie Cresswell hit 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. They got within two points again a minute later when forward Alyssa Kondrack scored on a layup.
The Hornets' Drea Watkins responded with a lay-in of her own and knocked down the free throw that followed on the foul to give Emmaus a five-point lead.
From there, Pottsville could never get the margin back to one possession.
Emmaus (12-11) led 41-29 early in the third quarter before that lead was erased primarily on the shooting of Cresswell and freshman Madison Sherakas.
The two guards combined for 21 of the Tide's 30 fourth-quarter points and hit 9-of-10 from the free-throw line in the final frame.
"We worked hard to get to this point in the season," Cresswell said. "We wanted this game really bad."
And it showed.
Cresswell finished with a game-high 20 points, 14 of which came in the final quarter. Sherakas, who finished with 10, added seven points in the last frame.
Burnhauser scored nine points for Pottsville, while Ashley Purnell pulled down nine boards to lead the Tide on the glass.
"I'm very proud of their heart," Wojciechowsky said. "They showed the character of our team - that we don't quit. We made mistakes and overcame them as a group. We never believe we're out of it. We never believe we're going to lose."
Pottsville also cleaned up the turnovers in the fourth quarter. The Crimson Tide turned the ball over 12 times in the first half, and just once in the fourth quarter.
In the end, the adjustments Pottsville made could do little to stop Emmaus' duo of Beth Wiseley and Watkins.
Wiseley hit four 3-pointers and shot 5-of-8 from the free-throw line to finish with a team-high 17 points before fouling out in the final two minutes.
Watkins added 15 points for the Hornets, including a 5-of-7 free-throw shooting performance in the fourth quarter to help Emmaus retain the lead.
Defensively, Watkins teamed with 6-foot center Kiyae White to help the Hornets win the rebounding game. White finished with a double-double, adding 10 points to her game-high 12 rebounds.
"It affected our game planning as far as how we were going to play them," Wojciechowsky said of the tall Hornets. "The girls we had in there played it very well, though. We didn't let them go up on us. The times they isolated them and had open looks was when we were extended in our defense."
Though Pottsville's season ended with the defeat, it's another year on which the Crimson Tide can build - especially with only two seniors departing the squad.
"This was a big season for us, where we set goals we needed to accomplish by the end of the season," Pottsville senior Julie Bulino said.
Among those three goals were earning 15 regular-season wins.
Check. Pottsville won its 15th game in the regular-season finale over Jim Thorpe.
Another was making the Schuylkill League playoffs.
Check. That same win over Jim Thorpe clinched the Division I wild card for the Crimson Tide.
The final goal was winning a district playoff game.
"That will be on our board for next year," Wojciechowsky said. "We took big forward steps as a program this year. And all these girls played a huge part in that."