Beavers Upset 2A No. 6 Bellevue

Wilton’s Linsey Ford, on ground with ball, snags a loose ball as Bellevue’s Giana Michels, left, and LIndsey Banowetz, right, close in.  Ford and the Beavers upset Class 2A No. 6 Bellevue at home last Tuesday, 38-36.  Photo by Ryan Stonebraker.

WILTON — The ninth straight win for the Wilton girl’s basketball team came in grand fashion last Tuesday at home. It was a battle of top-15 ranked Class 2A teams as No. 13 Wilton hosted No. 6 Bellevue. There, Wilton got a last-second basket from senior Aubrey Putman to send the Beavers to the 38-36 upset win.

With the game tied at 36, Wilton had the ball with 16.4 seconds left in the game. Wilton got the ball to Emily Lange, Wilton’s leading scorer, but Bellevue forced her to give the ball up. Lange passed to teammate Kortney Drake and with seconds ticking down, Drake was double-teamed, but before the Comets could get to her, Drake found a wide open Putman near the bucket. Putman made the lay-up as time expired and the buzzer sounded.

“That was a really big win for us,” Aubrey Putman said.

“We’d been doing so well this season so we didn’t want anything to stop, and we want to be at the top of the conference,” she said.

“They’re willing to step up and take big shots when we need them to,” Wilton head coach Jeremy Putman said.

“That’s going to help us down the stretch because teams are going to try and take away Emily and Kortney and our other three are going to have to step up and score, and I think they did that.”

Wilton improved to 15-1 overall with the win and 6-0 against RVC North Division foes. Wilton will travel to 2A No. 7 Cascade Saturday afternoon. The loss was the first of the season for Bellevue who began the season winning their first 15 games. The Beavers trailed only once in the ball game. The Beavers held their ninth opponent to under 40 points in a game this year with the win. The win was the first for Wilton in RVC play over Bellevue. The RVC started in 2013.

After trailing the whole game, Bellevue tied the game at 29 and took their first lead with just over three minutes left in the game, 31-29 on a Giana Michels steal and ensuing lay-up. Wilton responded on their next possession with a Kelsey Drake bucket to tie the game at 31. Wilton then scored the next four points from the free throw line to take a four-point, 35-31 lead with a minute left to play in the game. Bellevue came back, using a 5-1 run to tie the game at 36. A Michels three-pointer drew Bellevue within one, 35-34. Putman made 1-of-2 free throws to give Wilton a 36-34 lead before a bucket by Lindsey Banowetz tied the game at 36 setting up the final Putman heroics.

Emily Lange and Giana Michels led each of their teams in scoring in the first quarter with six points. Wilton led 12-8 after the first quarter. Wilton outscored Bellevue 11-7 in the second quarter to take an 8-point, 23-15 halftime lead. Wilton led 21-8 before the Comets closed the half of a 5-2 run. Bellevue cut the Beavers lead to four, 27-23 by the end of the third quarter.

Bellevue held Wilton’s leading scorer, and RVC South leading scorer, Emily Lange 12 points under her season average point total of 23.3. Lange still led Wilton with 11 points. Kelsey Drake had 8 points and 4 rebounds while Linsey Ford scored 6 and Kortney Drake 5. Kortney Drake led Wilton in rebounding with 10, assists with 3 and steals with 2.

Giana Michels led Bellevue with 18 points to go with 4 steals, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Lindsey Banowetz had 14 points and 6 rebounds. No other Comet scored more than three points. Wilton held the other three Comet starters, Kailey Miller, Alyssa Rubel, and Teresa Paulsen to a combined four points. Bellevue had no bench points in the game.

Wilton 38, Bellevue 36

Thursday, January 17

At Wilton

B 8 7 8 13 36

WIL 12 11 4 11 38


BELLEVUE (36): Kailey Miller (g) 0-1 0-0 0, Alyssa Rubel (g) 1-9 0-0 3, Lindsey Banowetz (g) 7-15 0-0 14, Teresa Paulsen (f) 0-0 1-2 1, Giana Michels (f) 6-15 5-7 18, Brianna Laughlin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-40 6-9 36.

WILTON (38): Linsey Ford (g) 1-2 3-4 6, Kortney Drake (g) 1-8 3-4 5, Emily Lange (g) 4-15 1-2 11, Aubrey Putman (f) 3-8 2-4 8, Kelsey Drake (f) 4-11 0-1 8, Chloe Wells 0-0 0-0 0, Ella Caffrey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-44 9-15 38.

3-Pt. FG: B 2-14 (Rubel 1-7, Michels 1-7), Wilton 3-16 (Lange 2-9, Ford 1-2, Kortney Drake 0-3, Putman 0-1, Kelsey Drake 0-1). Rebounds: Bellevue 20 (Banowetz 6, Paulsen 5, Michels 4), Wilton 29 (Kortney Drake 10, Putman 7, Ford 5, Kelsey Drake 4, Lange 3). Assists: Bellevue 11 (Rubel 3, Michels 3)), Wilton 7 (Kortney Drake 3, Ford 1, Lange 1, Putman 1, Kelsey Drake 1). Steals: Bellevue 6 (Michels 4, Banowetz 2), Wilton 5 (Kortney Drake 2, Ford 1, Caffrey 1, Kelsey Drake 1). Blocked Shots: B 9 (Paulsen 7), Wilton 3 (Ford 1, Lange 1, Putman 1). Total Fouls: Bellevue 5, Wilton 10. Fouled Out: none.