Despite winning just two games last year, the Lady Indians brought a fresh attitude. And according to first-year coach John Frye, the good spirits have paid off.

With a 52-45 overtime win over visiting Milford High School on Tuesday, Jan. 13, IR is now only trailing Laurel in the Henlopen South standings.

“This is a huge comeback from last year,” junior Brandi Buchanan said. “We’re playing together as a team. We’re like one big family and that’s the way it should be. I’m really excited to see where we go.”

Buchanan was instrumental in a strong offensive first half for the Lady Indians. She scored 13 points in the first half, contributing to IR’s 16-point lead entering halftime.

But everything changed in the third quarter. The Bucs rallied to outscore IR 12-5 before continuing their comeback in the fourth quarter. With 3:04 remaining in the game, Milford completed the comeback and took the lead for the first time.

With only seconds left on the clock, IR’s Marnisha Mitchell had two foul shots at the line. By converting one, she tied the game and sent it into overtime. There, the Lady Indians took over, outscoring the Bucs 7-0 to earn the win.

Frye said he’s currently working with his athletes to prevent the second half turnovers and missed opportunities that have been plaguing the team.

In IR’s loss to Laurel on Jan. 6, the squad squandered a seven-point lead when they were outscored 14-5 in the third quarter. The same thing happened against Delmar before Christmas break. Despite being outscored 17-6 in the period, IR was able to pull out the win.

“Decision making is still a work in progress,” Frye said. “Every game is a learning experience and there’s things I have to do to make sure we do better in the third quarter.”

Senior Poochie Mitchell said the team has struggled on the defensive side of the ball, but has recently turned a corner.

“We just worked on boxing out and fighting for loose balls,” she said. “That’s what really helped us get wins recently.”

On the opposite side of the ball, Frye gives a lot of credit to the play of senior forwards Miranda Hooper and Ramsay Reuther. Their ability to grab offensive rebounds has allowed IR to get many second- and third-chance opportunities, he said.

“I can’t say enough about Miranda Hooper,” he said. “She does an outstanding job for us. We don’t win games without her. She’s not only tall, but she has skills too.”

Hooper, in her first season with IR, is happy that she’s able to help a program that has been at the bottom of the standings.

nroth@dmg.gannett.com 302-537-1881, ext. 206