Ask any player on the Skyline varsity roster, and they'll likely tell you they had it the whole time.
After surrendering a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter and falling victim to a game-tying three by Fair Grove's Bailey Weaver with 14 seconds to go in regulation, the Skyline Lady Tigers (17-4) dug deep to take care of business in an extra session and turn away a clutch Lady Eagles (14-6) squad on the road, 47-40.
Despite having to play an additional four minutes, head coach Kevin Cheek's team continued their trend of exceptional defense and held Fair Grove to 40 points or less for the second time this season – which is something that has become old hat as of late for the Lady Tigers.
“I'm really proud of our kids because early in the year, we could hardly guard anybody,” Cheek said. “We were giving up 60 or 65 points a game. Offensively, we kind of lost our way for a little bit, but now we're holding people in the 40's. If you can hold people in the 40's for the most part, you have a chance to win.”
Skyline, which has now defeated its Mid-Lakes Conference foe for the third time in just over a month, held Fair Grove to one field goal in the first period to help create a 13-4 advantage for the Lady Tigers after the first eight minutes.
Fair Grove managed to keep itself within striking distance despite falling behind by as many as ten points on two separate occasions, and ultimately faced a 28-21 deficit going into the final eight minutes after putting up a commendable defensive effort of its own in the second and third quarters.
Then, Fair Grove got things working from long range.
Seniors Bailey Weaver and Emily Hopkins both struck from behind the arc on back-to-back possessions to start the fourth quarter festivities – dwindling the Lady Tigers lead to one with seven minutes to play. After both teams essentially traded baskets down the stretch, Weaver worked her magic one more time by cutting to the top of the key, receiving a pass and draining a 3-ball with under 15 seconds remaining to even things up.
“She's been a big part of our program for the last four years, so we know she's clutch,” Fair Grove head coach Jenny Talbert said of Weaver. “We drew that up for her to hit that three. She kind of had to create it a little bit more, but she nailed it.”
Skyline would be unable to get a shot off in the final seconds of the period – sending the game to overtime and leaving Cheek an opportunity to keep his team's composure.
“I told them that [Fair Grove] made some good shots and now we have to guard them,” said Cheek. “Our kids accepted that it was overtime. We probably should have won in regulation and we didn't, so we just had to keep working until we won. We didn't have a whole lot of quit in us.”
Skyline responded resiliently on defense once more – using an 10-1 run in overtime to jump out to a
44-35 lead and end the Lady Eagles' hopes of completing the comeback.
Sophomore Kaylee DaMitz, who notched a game-high 18 points in the contest, was responsible for seven of Skyline's 13 points in overtime. DaMitz was also a difference-maker at the line, going 7-for-8 from the charity stripe on the night.
“Those are really important to me,” DaMitz said about shooting free-throws. “I just want to get up there, take a deep breath and tell myself 'I've got this.'”
Skyline now sets its sights on a matchup with Marionville in the CMH Shootout at Southwest Baptist University on Saturday. Fair Grove travels to Pleasant Hope on Monday.
Box Score
Skyline – 13 6 9 6 13 – 47
Fair Grove – 4 10 7 13 6 – 40
Skyline – Kaylee DaMitz 18, McKinsey Mountain 9, Savannah Owen 5, Lauren Wouters 5, Kristen Miller 5, Autumn Garrett 4, Chloe Cole 1
Fair Grove – Lorin Weaver 9, Alana Findley 8, Bailey Weaver 7, Makenna Hill 6, Casey Baker 5, Emily Hopkins 3, Kelli Oplotnik 2
