LITCHFIELD - Dorothy Olmstead picked the perfect moment to score her only points of the night. The slender senior center's last-minute layup helped lift the Lakeview girls basketball team to a 36-33 victory over Thomaston in front of a spirited crowd Saturday night at Lakeview High School.
Olmstead's basket with 45 seconds left gave the Bobcats their first lead and, ultimately, a share of their first Berkshire League championship as Lakeview pulled off a remarkable comeback to avenge an earlier loss to the Golden Bears.
"I caught the ball on the low block. I'd been open there tonight and I was just waiting for that moment because I'd missed one earlier in the game," said Olmstead. "I knew I had to make that one."
"We held our breath - is it going to go in?" said Lakeview coach Kerri LaPorte. "She did a great job."
Both teams finished 13-1 in the league to share the title, but Lakeview at 18-2 probably earned the first seed in the CIAC Division V tournament over the Golden Bears (16-4).
The last time a school in Litchfield won the BL girls basketball title was in 2009, when LaPorte, then a freshman named Kerri Stolle, played for Wamogo's champions. Two years ago, Wamogo merged with Litchfield to form Lakeview.
When Thomaston beat Lakeview a month ago 42-35, the Bears jumped out to a big first-half lead. It looked like the same script this time as Thomaston led after the first period 17-8, and by a 28-16 score with two minutes left in the first half.
"I told the team at halftime, this is not over," said Lakeview's Allie Pape. "This is our game. We're a second-half team. We're going to show them our best."
Incredibly, the Bears would only score one more basket and just five points in the second half.
Of course, neither team was filling up the hoop. Despite only surrendering two points on a pair of foul shots in the third period, Lakeview still trailed 30-23 after three quarters.
Emily DosAnjos' foul-line jumper gave Thomaston a 32-23 lead shortly into the final period. DosAnjos, who hurt Lakeview with 15 points and 20 rebounds in the first meeting, again had 15 points, but only five in the second half as Lakeview frustrated her with double teams. Foul trouble also hampered the Bears center, and she eventually fouled out.
"All week, we prepped on trying to stay in front of her, stay to her right side, try to force her left because she's really dominant with her right," Olmstead said. "I just had to be tough and play her the best I could."
Lakeview's offense got untracked in the fourth quarter. An 8-0 run pulled the Bobcats within 32-31. After DosAnjos hit a foul shot, Lakeview's Mickie Rea sank a free throw for a 33-32 score.
Christina Barone rebounded a Thomaston miss, which led to Olmstead's go-ahead basket. In the final half-minute, the Bears missed a couple more times from outside, Pape made a timely steal for Lakeview and Addie Foss capped the game with two foul shots with 5.1 seconds left.
LaPorte awards two game balls after every game. This time, one went to Olmstead; the other to Foss. "She was steady all game," said LaPorte of Foss.
Pape led the Bobcats with 14 points, and Foss added 13, while Rea grabbed nine rebounds and Barone had six. For Thomaston, DosAnjos and Brynn Beaudoin each had seven rebounds.
"This is on me. I've got to find ways to get us baskets," said Thomaston coach Brian Mozelak. "We started settling for outside jump shots instead of trying to get the ball inside. I've got to find ways to get better shots for us than what we did tonight. I take full responsibility."
Player of the game
Quote of the game
"It was quite a night. I said to Coach Mozelak how great that we get to play in that environment tonight. It was great Berkshire League basketball - gym full, tight game, coming from behind. It was awesome to be able to do that." - Lakeview coach Kerri LaPorte.
Lakeview 36, Thomaston 33
THOMASTON 17 11 2 3-33
LAKEVIEW 8 13 2 13-36
Thomaston (16-4): Aylin Lahey 2 2 7, Brynn Beaudoin 3 1 7, Madison Decker 0 0 0, Addison Patchell 2 0 4, Emily DosAnjos 6 3 15, Tess Harkness 0 0 0. Totals: 13 6 33.
Team records: Thomaston 16-4; Lakeview 18-2.
This article originally published at Lakeview girls basketball rallies past Thomaston for share of Berkshire League championship.