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NORRISTOWN – It was do or die for Norristown. With time rapidly winding down in Friday night’s showdown against neighboring Wissahickon, the Eagles found themselves on the short end of a 38-35 score when first-year coach Ashlee Harrison called timeout.
The play out of the timeout was designed to get the ball inside to one of the Eagles’ post players.
Colleen Hinde saw it coming.
“I was on my feet ready for the ball,” the Wissahickon junior said. “I was excited. I was ready.”
Hinde stepped in front of her girl and came up with the ball, effectively putting to rest any thoughts of an Eagle comeback. Moments later she buried a pair of foul shots to put the finishing touches on Wissahickon’s 40-35 win over the Eagles.
“We knew coming in they were going to be tough, but we knew we had to be stronger,” Hinde said. “We had to work really hard together as a team.”
The win came on the heels of a monster win over Upper Dublin three days earlier.
“We haven’t beaten Upper Dublin for a while,” Hinde said. “Beating them boosts our confidence level so high. We knew we had to win this game to go even higher, and we did it.” 
It was the performance under the basket of Hinde (13 points, six rebounds, three steals) and Rachel Schaible (14 points, nine rebounds, two steals) that proved to be the difference in the game.
“We knew they would be a tough team, and we had to come out strong,” said Schaible, whose eight first-quarter points propelled the Trojans to an early lead.
Making the win even sweeter was the fact that Harrison, a former Trojan star who served as an assistant under coach Jerry Hartman for four years, was on the opposing team’s bench.
“It added more to the game,” Schaible said. “We were very excited to come in and play her. We have been talking back and forth. We never played Norristown before, and we knew they were going to be a tough team, and with the coach on the other side, it made it harder.”
The Trojans actually trailed 6-2 after a Mercedes Harris basket, but they knotted the score after back-to-back baskets by Hinde and Schaible in the paint. They took a 12-9 lead after Anne Bracaglia scored on a short jumper late in the quarter.
A three-point bucket by Katie Vila off the bench put the Trojans on top 15-11, but the Eagles closed out the half with a 6-1 run that included buckets from Netta Wise, Natasha Matthews and Harris to send the Eagles into halftime with a 17-16 lead.“In the first quarter, we did a nice job of getting the ball inside,” Hartman said. “In the second quarter, we took one shot in the lane.”
The third quarter was not especially kind to either team.
The Trojans went on top by one after Hinde sank a pair from the foul line, and when Kristy Ragbir connected from just inside the three-point arc, the Trojans led 20-17.
The Eagles – who managed just two baskets in the frame – cut the Trojans’ lead to 23-21 after Brittany Rose turned a pass from Cashae Hinton into an easy bucket. The Trojans went on top 25-21, thanks to a spinning bucket in the paint by Hinde late in the quarter.
Bracaglia had four steals in the quarter.
“I think our defense is what’s keeping us in games,” Hartman said.
A Casey Bill trey from the top of the circle put the Trojans on top 30-25, but Devin Blake converted a fastbreak layup at the end of the press and – after a Trojan miss – Harris (12 points) turned a pass from Hinton into a fastbreak basket. Suddenly it was a 30-29 game.
The Trojans misfired on a pair from the free throw line, and the Eagles answered with another inside basket – this one by Harris with a Blake assist to put the Eagles on top 31-30.
It was short-lived.
Hinde slipped in for an offensive rebound and bucket. Brittany Rose (Hinton assist) answered at the other end, putting the Eagles on top 33-32, but Schaible calmly sank both ends of a one-and-one to give the Trojans a 34-33 edge.
“I just try and clear my mind – think about my form and making the shot because I knew they were key shots,” Schaible said. “I knew if I missed them we could have lost, and if I made them, we could win the game.”
After an Eagle turnover against the Trojans’ press, Schaible deftly slid under her defender for a bucket and a 36-33 Norristown lead.
“I made them aware at halftime we needed to get the ball inside a little more,” Hartman said. “The third quarter we were a little better, but in the fourth quarter, we executed much better and were able to get the ball down low.”
A bucket by Rose, who had a game-high 10 boards to go along with eight points, made it a one-point game, but the Trojans put the game away by capitalizing on their opportunities at the foul line.
“This is very big,” Schaible said. “We just beat Upper Dublin on Tuesday. Now our team believes we can do it. I don’t know if we believed before. “
The loss was the second in a row for an Eagle squad that opened the season with four straight wins.
“We’ve had a tough week,” Harrison said. “We haven’t been playing as well as we did to start. We had to bounce back, and we were hoping tonight would be the night to be able to bounce back and start doing the little things.
“That’s our problem right now – boxing out, rebounding, making foul shots, making layups. Their effort tonight was much better. I think there was a lot of adrenaline from the excitement of who we were playing. Unfortunately, it didn’t go in our favor.”
WISSAHICKON 40, NORRISTOWN 35
Wissahickon (40) – Kristy Ragbir 2 1-2 5, Anne Bracaglia 2 0-0 5, Rachel Schaible 5 4-6 14, Casey Bill 0 0-0 0, Colleen Hinde 4 5-9 13, Natalie Draham 0 0-0 0, Katie Vila 1 0-0 3. Totals 14 10-17 40.
Norristown (35) – Cashae Hinton 2 0-0 4, Netta Wise 2 0-0 4, Natasha Matthews 1 1-2 3, Brittany Rose 4 0-2 8, Mercedes Harris 5 2-2 12, Nicole Graham 0 0-0 0, Andrea Stickley 0 0-0 0, Devin Blake 2 0-0 4. Totals 16 3-6 35.
Wissahickon 12 4 9 15-40
Norristown 9 8 4 14-35
Three-point goals: Katie Vila, Anne Bracaglia.
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