JERSEY SHORE - It was a position the Lady Bulldogs were all too familiar with.
Jersey Shore girls' basketball was down seven with 1:08 to play.
Seemingly, another loss was coming its way.
"It didn't look too good at that point," head coach Greg Bruce said. "There was a time-out, and to be honest, I don't remember if I called it or if the Sullivan County coach called it. I just told the girls to give it all that they had, and just fight until the last whistle."
Jersey Shore, to that point, had lost almost 50 straight games. Forty-six to be exact.
The streak almost snapped a few nights earlier at Hughesville.
"We were up going into the last quarter there, but it just slipped away in the fourth quarter," Bruce said.
Last Friday, it didn't slip away.
For the first time in almost three years, the Jersey Shore Lady Bulldogs tasted the sweet nectarine of victory - rallying from the seven-point deficit to win in double overtime, 57-48.
Finally.
"The monkey was off the girls' back," Bruce said.
Even though the Lady Bulldogs have played two games since that victory, Bruce can see something different.
No longer is there a feeling of discouragement or dispair.
"When we got back to practice after that game, you would see a quicker step," he said. "I think from that practice on, they actually believed that they could win."
You could say that Bruce, a second-year head coach, inherited the streak.
The Lady Bulldogs' last win - up to last Friday - was a 54-50 victory over Montoursville on Feb. 13, 2009. That win was the Shore's sixth of 2008-2009 campaign.
In 2009-2010 under the direction of then coach Adam Kline, the girls' team went 0-20.
Last year, Bruce's first at Shore, the team was 0-22 - and were overmatched in many games. There were two chances, ironically both against Montoursville, but two close losses, 48-41 and 41-33.
Yet, the second-year leader knew his team could win. Take one look at Shore's roster, and you see a common theme.
It's filled with softball players; a group of girls that know nothing but winning, district championships and deep playoff runs. That's the norm with the Lady 'Dawgs on the diamond.
"There is no doubt that softball is the big sport at Jersey Shore, and girls' basketball has been down for so long," he said. "But I knew we had a nice team here. We have a nice core group. We have one senior, and four juniors that play a lot of minutes for us. That victory was so important for us. I hope that the girls believe that what we are teaching them is going to work."
Kayla Allen saw it.
She was a big part of snapping that nasty skid.
She netted 33 points, and shot 13 of 25 from the floor - including a big bucket with three seconds left to send it into overtime.
"I thought the shot wasn't going to fall," she said. "It was just amazing. I didn't know how many points I had until someone told me after the game. I just wanted to help the team win. That was my only goal.
"Again, you start to think, 'Here we go, again.' But our press was starting to work, and we just kept getting closer and closer. We didn't know how close we could get, but we were just going to keep fighting. Everyone kept the positive attitude that this could be the one."
Bruce, in all of years of coaching, won't forget it.
"When we won that game, the student section came across the floor and started to celebrate with the girls. It was like winning the NCAA Tournament. And the student section was such a big help in that game. They cheered the entire game for us. I remember that Mr. (Bill) Mincer (JS athletic director) told me that some people started to leave when we were down seven with 1:08 left. I guess they missed something pretty amazing.
"After Kayla hit that shot, we were on such a high that it was hard to get them back down. We wanted to keep pressing and just force them into mistakes. We scored eight quick points, and I was yelling to them to slow down and run the clock. They were still pressing because that's what they were used to doing."
Allen was even stunned herself.
"At first, you didn't believe it," she said. "Then, the excitement just builds up. Everyone is jumping up and down, and so excited that we were finally able to get the win."
Despite a loss to Shikellamy Tuesday, Allen and her coach know the attitude is completely different.
Just because of one double-OT win.
"I think everyone believes that we can win now. We just have to keep working hard."
