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By Amanda Perkins
Mountain View, MO – Nails were bitten in Mountain View tonight as the Liberty Lady Eagles and the Willow Springs Lady Bears battled into overtime, with the host team claiming the 79-75 victory.
The Lady Bears held a five-point lead at the half, and quickly extended it to 10 at the top of the third. “I thought we came out really slow,” said Lady Eagles coach Jeff Atchison. “We let them dictate what we were doing, and that’s not what we try to do. We were really sluggish and weren’t making shots.”
Liberty began to adjust the tempo and chipped away at Willow’s lead. Selectively pressing their opponent kept the Lady Eagles in the contest, and with just a minute to play, the game was tied. That’s when Jaci Mantel put up a bucket for Liberty to take the lead.
With seconds left on the clock, Willow senior Devin Perkins went for the pull-up jumper. The ball rolled around the rim and went in at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
“You think the game is over with, and then they come roaring back,” said Atchison. “I was worried about being deflated. We got on them a little bit and tried to give them some inspiration. We are at home, so we should come out on fire in that overtime.”
The Lady Eagles took the words to heart and Jaci Mantel and Piper Francis controlled scoring in overtime to earn the four-point win. Francis would finish with 33 points and Mantel with 21.
“That’s a given, she’s going to get her shots,” said Atchison of Francis. “She had a really good game and was limited on the turnovers and shot the ball well. She was patient tonight, especially in the second half, where she had the bulk of her points and got us going.”
“Jaci Mantel plays so hard offensively,” he said. “We’re getting her the ball deep in spots and they’re having to double her, and that’s getting everybody else the ball. That’s good.”
Willow Coach D. J. Gutscher said he thought his team showed resilience. “We battled even in the overtime period when we got behind,” he said. “Hats off to Liberty – they executed and made some big shots. Both teams played really hard, statistically were pretty even, and it was just a great game and fun to be a part of. There’s a lot we can take away from this game and learn. But both teams fought hard and both teams deserved to win.”
Scoring for Liberty: Piper Francis, 33, Jaci Mantel, 21, Trinity Clark, 11, Kamryn Gastineau, 11, and Madison Berry, 3.
Scoring for Willow Springs: Devin Perkins, 25, Liliya Dudko, 16, Grace Bailey, 13, Kianna Rothermich, 12, Kayla Cox, 4, Sydney Miller, 3, and Maddie Porter, 2.
