Lady Orioles are 2-0 and the Sanner Tip-off champions

Senior Williams named tourney MVP

The score was tied at 27. Rocky Grove had the lead most of the game, but Oil City made a real game of it.

Rocky Grove took the ball into their end and got off a shot that missed, a scramble for the ball and Emily Rice came up with it as the time wound out.

​The final buzzer and referees whistle seemed simultaneous.

​Rice had been fouled.

The scrappy sophomore then went to the line and awaited the referees to discuss whether there was time left or not.

Finally the teams, sans Rice, were sent to the bench. The game came down to whether she could make a free throw.

Then Emily "ice in the veins" Rice drained it.

Look at the top photo of tournament MVP Abby Williams' reaction. 

This was huge. Not only did they win the Roy Sanner Tip-off Tournament, they have started the season 2-0.

The Lady Oriole's have had some rough years in recent memory struggling to win any games at all. And here they start out winning a couple from local rivals Cranberry and Oil City.

And a survey of school officials, principal Kelly Hart, athletic director Curt Bindas and coach Ken Brannon, yielded no definitive answer as to whether or not the girl's program has ever won this tournament. Even a call to longtime local sports writers couldn't answer the question without digging into the archives.

​Suffice to say, if this isn't the first time they have won their home tip-off tourney, it has certainly been a long time.

"God bless these kids, they worked so hard and they listen to us," said Brannon, who was walking around the gymnasium with a smile on his face. 

To view more photos scroll down, but there are even more at sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p71727075