Van Buren holds off C-R for win, 2nd place in BVC

RAWSON – No one thought the battle for second place would be easy. In an overtime thriller, Van Buren was able to overcome Cory-Rawson, 53-48. Van Buren coach Jaden Tabler knew the game wouldn't be a walk in the park. "All week at practice, we had talked about this being like a playoff atmosphere," Tabler said. "We worked extra hard at practice," Cory Rawson's Morgan McVetta said before the game. "Especially with it being senior night, we're all ready to play." The Hornets were indeed ready to play. Going into the fourth quarter, Van Buren was ahead, 38-28. But Cory-Rawson, owners of the best defense in the BVC, showed why it has been such a tough matchup. The Hornets scored 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, and held the Black Knights scoreless. A rowdy crowd in Cory-Rawson's gymnasium (affectionately named "The Hive,") along with stellar shooting from sophomore wing Morgan McVetta, kept the Hornets in this game, up until the very end. "I'm very proud of our student section this year," Hornets coach Wells Faine said. "There's been several games where they won us the game, or kept us in the game. Our girls really feed off of them." As for Morgan, she finished the game with 14 points, including three dagger triples that helped swing the momentum in the Hornets' favor. Makayla Gillfillan ended the game with 15 points, and was a dominant interior figure for the Hornets until she fouled out early into overtime. Paige McVetta finished with 10 points, and Chelcie McVetta added eight as well. Van Buren's duo of Sasha Busey and Anna Durliat once again stole the show in the Black Knights' win. They combined for 32 points, 17 and 15 respectively. "We knew that they were going to run a lot of their offense through Busey," Faine said. "They were hitting some open shots to start the game, and we tried to correct that at halftime." "We settled down when it mattered most," Tabler added. "Our star players really stepped it up at the end." Along with Busey and Durliat stepping up, Paige Bowman scored nine crucial points for Van Buren, which included its only made 3-pointer. Despite the struggles from 3 tonight, the Black Knights' ability to move the ball and find open looks inside them to a quality win. With this victory, Van Buren secured a coveted spot as second place in the Blanchard Valley Conference. With the postseason looming on the horizon, this win figures to go a long way in establishing confidence for a Black Knight team looking to win.