By Phil Knapper – Metro Independent Contributor
A crazy final minute put an end to a crazy good girls basketball game at Belleville East Tuesday night, as the Lady Lancers knocked off Collinsville 49-48.
Aubreeeny Brady / Photo by Roger Starkey
East (7-6 Southwestern Conference, 13-11) had a 48-45 lead, but turned the ball over with 50 ticks left, giving Collinsville a chance. Samantha Buettner tied the game up with a 3-pointer for the Lady Kahoks with 25 seconds left and East took a timeout to set up a play. It held the ball, looking for an open shot. A foul was called with 5.5 seconds left, though, sending Montira Mosby to the line for two shots. Mosby made one of two.
The play was odd because Mosby lost a shoe and fell down when the foul was called.
“That late in the game. that was a big call,” Collinsville coach Lori Billy said. “Her shoe came off and she fell forward. I’m not making excuses, it was a big call at a big point in the game.”
Collinsville (4-7 SWC, 9-12) then got the ball to explosive guard Aubreeney Brady to make something happen in the final 5.5 seconds. Brady took the ball down court and was fouled with 1.3 seconds left. Brady, though, missed the bonus attempt and Belleville East escaped with the win.
“That is a tough way to end a game,” Billy said. “You can’t fault Aubreeney, she is a good free throw shooter. It just didn’t go for us this time. You can’t fault the play or effort of any of these kids tonight, they played their hearts out.”
The fact that the game came down to the final seconds was due to a big second-half effort by the Lady Kahoks, who endured a terrible ending to the first half.
Collinsville’s active zone defense kept it in the game early, despite 12 first-half turnovers. The Lady Kahoks trailed just 9-8 after one period and were down just 17-15 with under 10 seconds left in the first half.
That is when lightning struck for the Lady Lancers. First, Erin Holl took a pass in the lane and converted a three-point play for a 20-15 lead with just over six ticks left.
The killer came when Collinsville made an errant pass and Brynesha Mosby buried a desperation 3-pointer as the halftime horn sounded for a 23-15 lead at intermission.
Billy did not let the Lady Kahoks sulk in the locker room.
“I chewed a little butt,” she said. “I laid the law down and told them they had to step up. We gave them the first half and it was time to take care of business in the second half.”
Message received.
Collinsville did not allow a point for almost the first five minutes of the second half. During that span, the Lady Kahoks went on a 9-0 run to lead 24-23 before Brynesha Mosby hit a 3-pointer for a 26-24 Lancers lead.
Collinsville took its first lead of the second half when Lexie Thompson hit her second of three 3-pointers in the period to make the score 24-23.
Collinsville went on to outscore East 19-8 in the quarter to lead 34-31 as the final period began.
The fourth quarter belonged to Montira Mosby, as she converted two three-point plays and another from beyond the arc, scoring 13 of her game-high 26 points in the period.
The game, though, stayed close until the final, tense minute that decided the outcome.
Brady led Collinsville with 14 points. Thompson just missed double digits with nine.
The two teams combined for 11 3-pointers in the game, with East hitting six.
The Collinsville scorers were: Brady-14, Thompson-9, Buettner-7, Smith-6, Scheiter-5, Morgan-4, Rukavina-3
Collinsville returns to Vergil Fletcher Gym for a 7:30 p.m. contest Tuesday against Belleville West.
The junior varsity Lady Kahoks beat the Belleville East junior varsity 33-28 prior to the varsity contest. The JV team is now 13-5.
Junior varsity scorers were: Rukavina-9, Fischer-7, Mahan-5, Morgan-4, Frerker-3, Liljegren-2, Giacoletto-2, Burgess-1
