The Marathon girls basketball team had an unlikely hero Friday night, with Cassie Forrest’s first two points coming at the perfect moment. She drilled a jumper from the top of the key with just four seconds left to help Marathon upset Moravia 46-45 at Marathon High School.
Marathon’s defense forced a miss from Caraline Wasileski at the buzzer on the ensuing possession to secure the victory. Moravia entered the game ranked 16th in the state’s latest Class C poll. The Blue Devils were also riding a 10-game winning streak.
Forrest hadn’t scored yet and isn’t much of an offensive threat for the Olympians, but she knocked down the biggest shot of her final high school season Friday night.
“We needed a bucket,” Forrest said. “I just knew I had to let it fly at that moment. It’s such an amazing feeling and it feels so great to do it with this team.”
With just 21 seconds remaining, Wasileski went to the free throw line to shoot two with Moravia holding a one-point lead. She missed both, setting up Forrest’s heroics.
The game-winner was Forrest’s only two points of the night, but she played a key role inside both on the boards and defensively for the Olympians. She’s been doing it all season and for her to finally have the ball in the waning seconds, it was only right for her to have her moment.
“Cassie’s not known for her outside jumper,” Marathon head coach Beth Anne Duncan said. “I couldn’t be happier for her. To make that big shot for her team as a senior knowing it’s their last home game, there’s a lot of emotions there for sure.”
Audrey Ensign led the way for Marathon with 23 points, including going 11-for-16 from the free throw line in a foul-heavy game. She consistently drove to the bucket, creating contact as her aggressiveness played an important role in getting Marathon off to a strong start. The Olympians led 25-23 at halftime.
“I was just getting my free throws,” Ensign said. “Coach constantly reassured us, ‘Calm down, we got this,’ and we did.”
Moravia made its run in the third after trailing at the half, winning the quarter 16-8 to carry a six-point lead into the fourth. Jessalyn Jones led the way with eight of her team-high 22 points coming in the third. Wasileski had 14, but she was unable to take over the game while dealing with foul trouble throughout.
Neither team hit a shot from the field in the fourth quarter until the 2:04 mark when Marathon’s Alina Parker connected. Parker picked up an and-one layup a minute later that cut Moravia’s lead to two and finished Parker’s strong scoring effort with 11 points. After Jones hit a jumper to put the Blue Devils back up four, Ensign hit her biggest shot of the night, a corner three to cut the deficit to one with 27 seconds remaining. That set the stage for the final sequence.
“I think we had the confidence from just hanging with a team of this caliber,” Duncan said. “They’re going to make shots, just keep hanging around, keep it close. We forced them to make threes down the stretch.”
Addie Oram had six points for Marathon, while Delaney Reilly and Catherine Newkirk also contributed offensively with two points each.
Moravia got the majority of its scoring from Jones and Wasileski, while Olivia Genson added nine.
Friday night’s thriller ends the regular season for both teams. Moravia will play in the IAC title game at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Tompkins Cortland Community College. Marathon is awaiting its seeding and matchup for the Section IV Class C tournament.
