Morrisville trailed the Ash Grove Lady Pirates through four quarters, but Kaitlyn Painter came through for the Lady Panthers in the final seconds, sinking a winning basket and clinching a win for the Lady Panthers, 60-59.
A three-point foul at the half turned out to be the game changer for the Lady Panthers, although it was not obvious at the time. Alexa Owens sank a bucket for the Lady Pirates with 5 seconds remaining in the half, and the Lady Panthers trailed 35-26. Painter hurled the ball from half court at the buzzer, missing her mark by inches but incredibly drawing a foul on the shot.
Painter made it count for the Lady Panthers, sinking all three shots from the line, 35-29. The 3-point gain was the shot of momentum the Lady Panthers needed for the second half.
Coach Mike McHolland reflected on the boost from Painter’s foul-shot “buzzer beater.”
“That was a big turning point for the game,” said McHolland. “You don’t realize it till after the game is over, but that was a big turning point, to get three points and win by one. We buckled down and played good sound defense at the end of the game.”
The Lady Panthers tied the score twice in the 3rd and trailed 48-45 going into the 4th. With less than two minutes on the clock, Painter sank two buckets at the line, giving the Lady Panthers their first lead since their opening point, 57-56.
The Lady Pirates went 3-2 to lead 59-58 with 27 seconds on the clock, and the Lady Panthers called a timeout with possession of the ball.
Francka passed the ball to Painter, who sank the winning basket with 11 seconds on the clock, 60-59.
Improving to 15-3 for the season, this win was vindication for Morrisville’s loss to Ash Grove in the Walnut Grove Holiday Classic, 55-47. A tough loss to Conway last week was also on the Lady Panthers’ minds.
“We showed more energy tonight than we did a week ago against Conway,” said McHolland. “We showed more energy on the court, more pride. They came through tonight. We knew it was going to be a dog fight tonight, and it was. Both teams got after it, man-to-man, junk defense.”
Painter scored 37 points for the Lady Panthers.
“We were ready to redeem ourselves from the last game,” said Painter. “We were working hard all game, and we really stepped it up the second half especially. We got a boost of energy and momentum when I got fouled on that three, and we were ready to play. We just stepped it up the second half.”
McHolland is looking forward to more wins in spite of a tough schedule.
“We have a tough week ahead; we have Fordland on Thursday and Plato on Saturday,” said McHolland. “Like I told the girls in practice, we take one game at a time this week. We don’t look ahead. We just take one, worry about that game, and move on as the week goes along and throughout the rest of the year.”
Morrisville: Kaitlyn Painter 37, Michaela Presley 9, Tabitha Francka 9, Casey Cossins 3, Abby Painter 2 – 60
Ash Grove: Morgan Allred 26, Mallory Keith 11, Alexa Owens 9, Sydnee Cashio 4, Katie Martin 4, Dani McThompson 4, Hannah Robinson 2, Kayla Keene 2 — 59
1 2 3 4
Morrisville 15 14 16 15 — 60
Ash Grove 20 15 13 11 — 59
