It’s 30 seconds the Corvallis High girls basketball team would like to have back.
There’s no doubt they haven’t forgotten those final moments of regulation on Jan. 11 when Crescent Valley stormed back for six unanswered points to force a tie and send the game into overtime.
The Spartans led 48-42 before CV junior Janelle Batista scored to cut the lead to four.
Missed free throws hurt the Spartans as they failed to convert the front end of two one-and-ones.
That allowed the Raiders to make long passes after the rebound for layups by Christine Dong and Molly Doran, with Doran’s just beating the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
In the extra four minutes, the Raiders held the Spartans to a single free throw as they escaped Spartan Gym with a 52-49 victory.
The two teams meet again Tuesday night at 5:30 at CV.
And while revenge could be on the minds of the Corvallis players, something much bigger is at stake — keeping a hold on first place in the Mid-Willamette Conference.
The Spartans haven’t loss since the first meeting with the Raiders, reeling off six straight wins to improve to 7-1 in MWC play with only one game closer than 22 points.
They have won 10 of 11 to bring a 14-4 overall mark and No. 7 ranking into Tuesday’s game.
The Spartans have been winning with defense. In three games last week, the Spartans gave up 21, 22 and 30 points while scoring 62, 88 and 65 in wins over Lebanon, Woodburn and Dallas, respectively.
The Raiders, meanwhile, have struggled, losing two of their last three to fall into third place in the conference standings, a half-game behind West Albany (15-4, 6-2).
What makes the skid more difficult for the Raiders (10-7, 5-2) is that both losses have come on their home court, where they are usually pretty dominant.
The Raiders were stunned by Lebanon when the Warriors hit eight 3-pointers and opened an 18-point lead early in the fourth quarter before CV stormed back and had a chance to tie the game with a three with a minute left.
After a win over Woodburn, the Raiders held a big second-half lead against West Albany only to see the Bulldogs storm back and win on a free throw in the closing seconds.
The Raiders had a 15-point lead in the first meeting against the Spartans before watching CHS respond with a 23-2 run to take the 48-42 lead.
While tonight’s game is big for both teams, they each have equally big games on Friday.
CV is at Silverton while the Spartans head to West Albany. All four teams could be in the postseason, and are battling for seeding and the conference title.
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