Last-minute basket boosts Tigers over Hilltoppers 55-53

CROTHERSVILLE — Courtney Killey said she wanted to shoot with enough time left on the clock that Crothersville could get an offensive rebound if she missed, but she also didn’t want to shoot with too much time remaining to give Shawe Memorial a chance to drive down for a tying or winning basket.

Killey, a senior guard, drove down the left side of the key and banked in a shot with 5 seconds remaining to give the Lady Tigers a 55-53 win on Monday night in the Tigers’ Den.

Shawe’s Rachel Muessel hit a 10-footer from the right side with 53 seconds remaining to tie the game at 53.

The Tigers then ran the clock down until Killey scored the winning basket. The Hilltoppers quickly moved the ball to their end of the floor and Muessel shot as time expired, but the ball fell short of its target.

“I looked up at the clock (with 12 seconds remaining) because it was a tie game and I knew my coach wanted us to get one shot off,” Killey said. “I kept looking up to see if there was anybody open, and if there wasn’t, I was to keep holding onto the ball and maybe make them come out and possibly foul me.
“I felt like I was out there forever with all that pressure and I knew I better look up and see how much time was left. When I looked up, I saw that time was dwindling pretty fast, and when no one was moving, I knew I had to at least attempt a shot, so I decided to drive. I’m pretty sure they knew I was going to go to the left because I do all the time. They kept sinking in, and they looked at the clock, too. I tried to get as close to the basket as I could.”

Tigers coach Kevin Hensley said, “I told Courtney and Brooke (Prather) both that if they got a good layup opportunity to take it. I told Courtney that the girl guarding her had four fouls on her, so she was really timid about guarding Courtney, and they had this girl from the side coming over to help out, so that was the only way they were going to be able to stop her.”

This was Crothersville’s first game since Dec. 8 and Hensley said it showed as his team missed its first seven shots from the floor and had four turnovers to fall behind 9-0.

The Tigers were scheduled to play West Washington last Thursday, but that game was postponed because of an outbreak of the flu at the Washington County school.

“I was so disappointed that we didn’t play it because I knew with a dead period that it kind of makes you rusty,” Hensley said. “You’re still practicing, but it still makes you rusty. We didn’t come out with any fire, we came out flat, and then we came back.”

Shawe held an 11-7 lead at the end of the first period and increased its advantage to 18-12 in the second period before Kelsey Hoskins scored inside and Kylie Hensley hit back-to-back 3-pointers at 3:05 to give the Tigers their first lead of the night at 20-18.

Hensley’s third 3-pointer of the period helped the Tigers hold a 25-22 lead at the half.

Kayla Barnett opened the second-half scoring with a 3-point basket and also added a 2-pointer later in the period, while Prather had a pair of 2-pointers, and the Tigers outscored the Hilltoppers 14-6 to take a 39-28 lead into the final quarter.

“Barnett hit a nice 3 in the second half to get us up by a little more,” Hensley said. “Kylie got hot in that first half and that way we got back in the game.”

The teams traded points through the first 4 minutes of the final period, leaving the Tigers on top 47-36 before the home team committed turnovers on three straight possessions and Shawe rallied to tie the score.

“The thing that bothered me is they called timeout, they were down double digits and I told my team that we’ve got to play like this game is 0-0 and play with more intensity, and we didn’t we came out flat again,” Hensley said.

The Tigers had seven of their 18 turnovers in the fourth period.

Crothersville had balanced scoring with Prather scoring 16, Killey 14 and Hensley 12.

Muessel captured game honors for the Hilltoppers with 28 and Hana Roberts added 17.

This is the second time this season that the Tigers defeated the Hilltoppers as Crothersville won 56-47 in the Henryville Tip-Off Tournament.

The win snapped a four-game losing string for the Tigers.

“It feels real good, and it’s just what my team needed,” Killey said. “We needed a little boost of energy and confidence. I think we got that today by pulling this one out.”

The Tigers are 6-4 and are idle until Jan. 2, when they will play host to Scottsburg.

Box score

At Crothersville
Shawe Memorial 11 11 6   25—53
Crothersville       7   18 14 16—55
Crothersville (6-4): Ashleigh Allen 2-5 0-0 4, Kylie Hensley 4-9 0-0 12, Kayla Barnett 1-4 0-0 3, Brooke Prather 7-13 0-2 16, Courtney Killey 3-9 8-11 14, Karlie Schoenfelder 1-1 2-6 4, Kelsey Hoskins 1-1 0-0 2, Haileigh Crockett 0-0 0-0 0, totals 19-42 10-19 55
Shawe Memorial (3-8): Katherine Bear 2-4 0-0 4, Rachel Muessel 11-17 5-8 28, Chloe Storm 1-4 0-0 2, Hana Roberts 6-16 3-5 17, Kaylee Mingione 0-3 0-0 0, Nicole Zapp 0-0 0-0 0, Jennifer Morris 0-1 0-0 0, Laura Hesse 1-2 0-0 2, totals 21-47 8-13 53
3-point goals: Crothersville (Hensley 4, Prather 2, Barnett 1), Shawe Memorial (Roberts 2, Muessel)
Rebounds: Crothersville 20 (Killey 8, Barnett 4), Shawe Memorial 28 (Bear 8, Roberts 7)
Turnovers: Crothersville 18, Shawe Memorial 19
Fouls: Crothersville 9, Shawe Memorial 13