MEDORA
With less than five seconds on the clock, Medora freshman Kelsey Turner guaranteed the team would earn its first win of the season.
Martinsville Tabernacle Christian advanced the ball, trailing the Hornets by three, and hoisted a 3-pointer up from the left wing.
Turner met the shot and recorded a clean block to ensure no extra time would take place.
Medora (1-5) used a 9-0 run in the final three minutes of play to earn a 42-39 win against the Eagles.
Hornets junior Lillian Hatfiled hit three straight baskets to tie the game at 39-all with 1:19 left.
With 56 seconds on the clock, sophomore Kailen Flynn buried a 10-foot jumpshot to give the Hornets the lead.
Despite going 1 for 4 from the line in the waning seconds, the Hornets held on.
“We were trying to spread the floor, but at the same time we were trying to reverse the ball to the weak side and get a screen and roll off of it,” Hornets coach Brad McCamon said of the scoring string. “We were doing too much early on off the dribble. We were trying to rely on our quickness and ability.”
In the first quarter, the Eagles built a 8-0 lead with 3:13 on the clock.
The Hornets answered at the end of the quarter with a 7-0 run capped by a 3-pointer by Flynn.
Lexi Morris hit a trey to open the second quarter and tie the game at 14-all.
Medora then switched to a press defense and forced a handful of Eagles turnovers.
“We wanted to see what their guard play was like early on before applying pressure,” McCammon said. “When we put (Phillips) in she kind of spurred the defense. We knew we had to speed up the pace of the game because they were good set shooters. Pushing the tempo got us some better looks at the basket.”
Back-to-back steals lead to layups by Flynn and Hatfield to give the Hornets their first lead at 20-19.
At half, the game stood deadlocked at 23-all.
The teams battled back and forth, with the Eagles starting with a 6-0 run before the Hornets answered with three straight buckets to start the third quarter.
However, after 24 minutes of play the Eagles held a 33-31 advantage.
The Hornets trailed by as much as six points before managing the strong finish.
Hatfield and Flynn each totaled 17 points to lead the Hornets.
Turner pulled down 10 rebounds, while Morris, Flynn and sophomore Taylor had six rebounds each.
The Hornets finished with 34 rebounds to the Eagles’ 47.
Karley Elmore topped the scoring for the Eagles (1-2) with 10 points.
Medora won the turnover battle, committing 14 to the Eagles’ 27.
The night before, the Hornets committed 46 turnovers in a 85-26 loss to Rock Creek Academy.
McCammon said that Turner has come along in recent play.
“(Turner) came in the first week of practice really timid, but now she has started to come out of her shell,” he said. “She has gotten more aggressive in the middle. We’re starting to get pivot-play and it has opened things up for us.”
McCammon said that the first win got the monkey off the team’s back.
“It means more because we played three games this week and their legs were probably tired,” he said. “They showed a lot of guts in the fourth quarter. I was proud of the crowd — it was nice to be home.”