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Who knew all the Red Hurricane needed to get going was a little bit of Waters?
New Castle sophomore Kaylynn Waters scored 33 points -- 31 after her team trailed by 19 points in the second quarter -- to spark the Red Hurricane to a 66-61 overtime victory against Hopewell in the girls' WPIAL Class AAA championship game Saturday afternoon at the Palumbo Center.
"I knew I had to step up and we needed it big because a lot of our players were in foul trouble," Waters said. "I had to get the job done ... just play like I know how."
The WPIAL title is New Castle's second consecutive and fourth all time, all since 2004. The Red Hurricane (21-3) avenged two section losses to Hopewell and handed the Vikings (25-1) their first loss.
Elise Farris scored 24 points and Paige Alviani added 18 for the Vikings, who led, 31-12, midway through the fourth quarter.
"I just felt like we came out, we looked a little bit gun shy, we looked like we were a little bit scared," New Castle coach Jason Rankin said.
PDFsAlviani made three 3-pointers and scored 10 points in the first quarter as the Vikings soared to a 20-10 lead after eight minutes.
The Vikings continued to apply the pressure early in the second quarter as Farris got hot. She scored eight points in the quarter and Hopewell went up by 19 points with 4:38 remaining in the half.
Everything was working for the Vikings early on -- perimeter shooting, low-post offense, rebounding and defense. Hopewell outrebounded New Castle, 22-13, in the first half and forced 13 turnovers while committing eight. But the Red Hurricane finished the half on a 11-4 run behind Waters' eight second-quarter points and closed to within 35-23 at the half.
The Red Hurricane started the second half on an 8-0 run to pull within four, and later, two points of the Vikings. New Castle adjusted its offense to attack inside at every opportunity, and it worked. Its first 14 points of the half came from in close.
"The big thing that we had to do there was we had to get some easier baskets, we had to get to the rack as quick as possible and we had to not let them get set up," Rankin said.
Hopewell led, 46-44, at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Vikings were up by six with about three minutes remaining before Waters got hot again. She scored six points in the final 3:08 as New Castle tied the score, 55-55. Waters had a shot to win the game in regulation at the buzzer, but it hit the front of the rim.
She made up for it in overtime by scoring eight of New Castle's 11 points, including two free throws with 12 seconds remaining to secure the win.
"There was one person that elevated their game above and beyond anyone on that floor and that was Kaylynn Waters," Hopewell coach Jeff Homziak said. "They weren't easy shots. She had some tough shots she knocked down. But she definitely elevated her game and took control."
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