By Denise Tucker
Sarrah Hottes hit the go-ahead basket with 50 seconds left in the game and Annie Besch added a free throw with 5.4 seconds remaining as the Stockton Lady Tigers withstood a furious rally by the Fair Play Lady Hornets for a 47-45 non-conference victory on Monday night.
It was a big win for the Lady Tigers, who had been struggling of late.
“We’ve been on a little bit of a losing streak, so we just needed to get a victory,” Stockton head coach Kevin Besch said of his team, which improved to 5-13 on the season. “Fair Play has been playing great. They’ve beaten some teams that we’ve lost to, and so this was big for our girls. They really needed it.
“They responded from their last loss, so by them bouncing back and playing like they did, it was really nice to see.”
Trailing by six points (44-38) heading into the fourth quarter, Fair Play went on a 6-0 run, paced by senior twin sisters Paige (four points) and Maysee Harman (two), and tied the game at 44 with one minute left in the game.
Hottes hit the runner in the lane to put Stockton up 46-44, but then fouled Dahlia Simpson, sending her to the line.
PHOTOS: FAIR PLAY VS. STOCKTON
Simpson hit one of two free throws to pull the Lady Hornets to 46-45, but Fair Play’s Maysee Harman – who was out much of the game in foul trouble – was whistled for her fifth foul with just 5.4 seconds to go and Besch made one of her two free throws for the final margin.
“Maycee in foul trouble hurts us because we have a young bench,” Fair Play coach Alicia Mercer said. “We have girls who are little more inexperienced. So, when we have one of our veterans in foul trouble, then it causes us to have to look to inexperience, which kind of hurts us when we are in a tight game like that.”
Fair Play had a shot under the basket at the buzzer, but a player control foul was called and the game was over.
“I thought our bench did a good job of going out and doing what they could,” Mercer said. “I don’t think they lost they game, by any means, but with Maycee and her sister Paige, they are the heart and soul of our team, and with one of them out it really hurts us.”
Paige Harman led the Lady Hornets (8-6) with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
“Paige is a hard-working girl, and she has the heart of a lion,” Mercer said. “I couldn’t ask for a better player. She goes out and gives 110 percent and she takes a lot of mistakes on herself…
“But if we were to rewind and if we did it all over again, I would want the exact same person to have the ball and the exact same shot.”
The Lady Hornets had had a chance to tie the game after Stockton took the 46-44 lead.
Mercer called a timeout with 48.5 seconds left to set up a play. Mercer got the shot she wanted – it just didn’t fall.
Fair Play held a five-point advantage (20-15) over Stockton about midway through the second quarter, but the Lady Tigers went on a 7-0 run for a 22-20 lead, and later, a 5-0 run to close out the half for a 32-24 lead.
Stockton used its half-court trap to try and create turnovers and spark its offense.
“You gamble a little bit on it, but you do a lot of things with that ball-handler and try to push and run with it,” coach Besch said. “You can do so much in practice, but the girls have to execute in the game, and they did tonight.”
“I told them, ‘win or lose, that was a great effort-type game,’ ” coach Besch said, “and we pulled the win out, so they deserved it.”
Stockton’s Kayla Hobbs led all scorers with 20 points, including five 3-pointers, and Annie Besch added 14 points and 8 rebounds.
STOCKTON GIRLS 47, FAIR PLAY 45
Nonconference game
FAIR PLAY – 10-14-10-11—45
STOCKTON – 11-21-8-7—47
FAIR PLAY (8-6) – Paige Harman 16, Dahlia Simpson 14, Maysee Harman 10, Carla Bayer 2, Ashton Curl 2, Christina Bayer 1.
STOCKTON (5-13) – Kayla Hobbs 20, Annie Besch 14, Amie Garver 6, Sarrah Hottes 4, Kaytlyn Millard 2, Sierra Kenney 1.
Stockton B 39, Fair Play B 22
