Lady Bears lose back and forth battle to Sunshine
Published 11:32 pm Thursday, December 18, 2014
ORRVILLE — Sunshine’s Eulacia Edwards hit a floater in the lane with 16 seconds left as the Tigers defeated Keith 61-60 in a game with four lead changes in the final 36 seconds.
Keith (8-4) appeared to be in position to win after Harriet Winchester knocked down a three-pointer with 59 seconds left and later knocked in two free throws to give the Bears the lead with 22 seconds to play. Sunshine, which hit 10 three-pointers, drove down the floor and Edwards knocked in the game winner.
“They like to shoot the three ball a lot,” Keith coach Cecil Williams said. “That’s their thing. When they make it, they make it but when they shoot and they’re off, they are going to miss it. It just seemed to be one of those nights where they were putting it up and making it.”
Keith built a 39-27 lead by scoring the first three baskets of the third quarter, but the Tigers made three three-pointers and tied the game with 4:11 left in the period.
The game was back and forth from that point, with Sunshine leading 50-46 after three quarters.
The Tigers led nearly the entire fourth, including 57-53 with 1:35 left to play. Winchester forced a tie up and then squared up and knocked down a three-pointer to make it a one-point game with 59 seconds left.
The Bears then stole the ball and Winchester hit Zykia Pettway for a tough layup with 36 seconds left to make it 58-57 Keith.
Edwards knocked down two free throws with 28 seconds left and Winchester did the same six seconds later. Edwards had the last laugh though, as her final shot went in and Winchester was unable to answer on the final Bears’ possession.
Edwards scored 24 points to lead Sunshine in scoring.
Pettway led the Bears with 19 points and dominated rebounds most of the evening. Winchester scored 18.