By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Somehow the Diamond girls basketball team found a way.
The Wildcats didn’t make a field goal in the final 3:25 of the game and only had two baskets in the fourth quarter, but they managed to pull out a 35-32 win against the hosts in the championship game of the 66th Annual Golden City Basketball Tournament – their second straight year to win the title.
“Last year was kind of the same way, we won by one point against a good Greenfield team,” Diamond coach Marty Atnip said. “We knew having to come to Golden City and play them on their home court for the championship was going to be a battle. We started pretty strong and then they found their mojo and after that it was just blow for blow, both teams making big buckets at the right time and we just happened to get maybe one or two more clutch points at the end.
“That’s what happens when two good teams come together,” he said. “It’s those clutch moments that decide who’s one and who’s two.”
Diamond, which improved to 12-3 and has won six straight, jumped out to an early 13-6 lead but found itself trailing less than two minutes later and was locked in a back-and-forth struggle the rest of the night. The Wildcats led by a point at halftime and by a point heading into the fourth quarter.
Golden City took a 29-28 lead midway through the fourth on a three pointer by Maggie Reed, but Taaron Drake scored less than a minute later to make it 30-29 Diamond. A basket by Lexy Bridges with 3:25 remaining gave the Wildcats a three-point lead.
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Golden City tied it at the 1:59 mark on another three by Reed, but Lauren Turner made a free throw with 30 seconds remaining and Grace Frazier added two more with 3.5 seconds left to help seal it. The Eagles missed a desperation three at the buzzer.
“Golden City likes to keep the score low,” Atnip said. “Most of their games if you see their scores it’s in the 30’s. We like to play at a little faster pace. The one thing they did well is they kept it at the pace they felt they could win at and we had to grind it out and do that to get the championship. That I’m proud of the girls for. It’s always a team victory, it’s never just one individual or two people, it’s always a team victory and that’s what we’re about.”
Golden City dropped to 14-4 and saw its five game win streak end. The Eagles were plagued by turnovers against Diamond’s pressure defense, especially in the first half with Golden City turning it over 15 times.
“The second half we did a really good job of handling their pressure,” coach Derek Judd said. “Our legs were tired. We have a short bench and a lot of girls – my two guards, the Scott sisters (Kylee and Kyndall) and (Brooke) Beerly usually play the whole game. Maggie (Reed) usually doesn’t get much of a break, and neither does Ahree (Lutes).
“We tried some new things on offense today we only worked on for about two days,” he said. “We did really well with it and I think we’re going to keep practicing and getting better because of those things. We’re going to keep cleaning things up and get ready for districts.”
“Back to back champions,” Atnip said. “We haven’t done that in a while so it’s good to come back and repeat. We’re hoping it can propel us into better things coming in the conference season. We can use this as a springboard.”
Turner led Diamond with 13 points, Drake scored eight and Caitlyn Suhrie and Grace Frazier each had five. Golden City was led by Beerly’s 10 points, while Reed added nine and Kyndall Scott scored eight.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Tournament MVP – Grace Frazier, Diamond
Tournament 1st team
Brooke Beerly, Golden City
Marlie Wright, Greenfield
Lauren Turner, Diamond
Trista Torres, Greenfield
Nicole Hagerman, Bronaugh
Tournament 2nd team
Kyndall Scott, Golden City
Crystal Smith, Jasper
Chloe Cornelison, Dadeville
Libby Lakey, Dadeville
Abby Barton, Liberal
