By Dana Harding
Spokane, Mo. — With first place in the Southwest Central League up for grabs, Tuesday night’s heavyweight clash between Spokane and Clever more than lived up to its billing with a buzzer-beater finish.
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Casey Wallace’s pull-up jumper with :02 remaining gave the Lady Owls a 69-67 victory and sent the home crowd into an absolute frenzy.
A frenzy likely built from equal parts joy … and relief.
Spokane’s game-winner occurred moments after Clever’s Harper Little knotted the score on a pair of free throws. Little’s foul shots capped a furious fourth quarter comeback during which the Lady Jays erased a ten-point deficit and appeared on the verge of stealing the game.
Enter the Wallace close-out.
“We got a little bit rattled once Harper hit those two free throws,” Wallace said. “But I told everybody to just calm down and that we had it. Once we got it into the right hands, with Rachelle passing it out and then Meghan having it in her hands, God gave me that lucky shot.”
While Spokane enjoyed a hefty lead in the final frame, it needed a rally of its own in the third just to arrive at that point.
Clever led 40-33 at the half, largely due to its front-line domination from Abi Menzies.
The sophomore forward attacked the basket repeatedly, pouring in 14 of her game-high 23 points in the first half, alone.
Unfortunately for Clever, the third quarter saw Menzies hit with three fouls in as many minutes of play. With the Lady Jays’ hot hand on the bench with four fouls, Spokane head coach Doug Hepler made a couple quick adjustments to the gameplan.
“[Menzies’ foul problems] changed a little bit of what we were doing defensively, because she tore us up in the first half with 14 points,” Hepler said. “It allowed us to get a little more pressure on their guards and cause some turnovers, cause some shots that were contested and led to defensive stops.”
Spokane’s defensive pressure knocked the Clever attack back on its heels. Early relentless drives to the basket turned to contested jump shots, and the Lady Owls were able to capitalize with a 16-4 third quarter swing.
In the fourth, a Kaylee Armitage basket gave Spokane its largest lead of the game at 54-44.
Down but far from out, Clever responded.
Hannah Maples caught fire in the final six minutes for the Lady Jays, knocking down a trio of 3-pointers in the quarter.
The senior guard’s 11-point flurry during the the final six minutes helped bring Clever back from the brink.
Possession by possession, Maples and Wallace traded baskets down the stretch in a sheer test of will.
Wallace welcomed the challenge.
“Hannah’s a great player, and her guarding me … it was a great competition for me,” Wallace said. “Her and I going battle-to-battle, it was pretty tough, and I believe it did come down to who had the ball in their hands last.”
Following Little’s game-tying free throws, Hepler called time-out with :15 remaining and instructed the Lady Owls to work for one final shot.
“We wanted to get someone attacking the basket, where they had to collapse,” Hepler said. “It was either, we’re going to get a shot, or we were going to go to overtime, but we were going to get the last shot. It just happened to be they came off of Casey at that time, you know. She just came up with the right shot at the right time.”
Did she know it was good?
“Honestly I did,” Wallace said. “Through my mind, I was praying the whole time and, luckily, God gave me that strength to make it.”
Wallace scored 18 to lead the Lady Owls and was joined in double figures by Armitage’s 15 and Rachelle McMurray’s 12. Spokane’s balanced scoring on the evening also featured 8-point efforts from Meghan Robertson, Taylor Riott and Zabryna Hodges.
Clever players in double figures included Maples with 17 points and Tessa Newman with 12.
Next up for the Lady Owls (16-3) is a clash in the Scoreboard Guy Shootout (Ozark High School) with South Iron this Saturday, Jan 28. Clever plays host to Cassville on Thursday, Jan. 26.
Varsity final: Spokane – 69, Clever – 67
Spokane 16 17 16 20 — 69
Clever 18 22 4 23 — 67
Clever scoring: Casey Wallace – 18, Kaylee Armitage – 15, Rachelle McMurray – 12, Meghan Robertson – 8, Taylor Riott – 8, Zabryna Hodges – 8
Spokane scoring: Abi Menzies – 23, Hannah Maples – 17, Tessa Newman – 12, Harper Little – 9, Madison Newman – 6
JV final – two quarters: Spokane – 18, Clever – 4
(Paige Tate – 12 points)
