Tipton students arrived to the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center in leis, straw hats and Hawaiian shirts Friday, equipped for a day at the beach.
The Lady Gremlins, however, put the heat on Tipton and ensured their shot at a third conference tournament championship in four years was anything but leisurely.
With a regular season conference title clinched, the Lady Cardinals claimed the tournament championship in a tightly-contested victory over Sacred Heart, 44-40 in Sedalia.
It came down to the final possession.
Down three with 8.9 seconds to play and Grace Goodwin on the line, the Lady Gremlin guard sank one free throw and intentionally missed the second. McKenna Beeler fell on the rebound and Sacred Heart was awarded one chance after the jump ball.
The Lady Gremlin inbounds pass was clean, but the entry pass to the post was tipped into Brooklynn Pace’s possession. She was fouled with 1.9 seconds, and iced the game with a pair of free throws.
Pace said she stayed cool for the sake of her team.
“I knew that my team needed me the most and that if I was overwhelmed I probably wasn’t going to make it,” Pace said. “I calmed myself down and just shot it.”
Tipton finished 16-for-24 at the line, better than Sacred Heart’s 16-for-30.
Abby Backes led Tipton with 23 points with three 3-pointers. Alyson Brant scored 10 points and Pace had nine.
Beeler finished with 16 points for Sacred Heart, followed by Goodwin with nine and Madison McClain with seven.
The Lady Gremlins trailed by three or less for the majority of Friday’s game, and challenged the Tipton offense at the point of attack.
“They were applying pressure on offense,” Pace said. “We had to extend our offense out, when we’re used to driving. It was making it difficult to get those easy layups we’re used to getting.”
2017 Kaysinger Conference Basketball Tournament sponsored by W-K Chevrolet Buick GMC Cadillac opened the final day for the girl’s bracket with its ninth-place game.
Northwest bumped Green Ridge in the ninth-place game 36-29 behind 18 points from Megan Simpson and nine points on three 3-pointers from Megan Walk.
Cole Camp rebounded from a semifinals loss to Sacred Heart, earning third-place honors with a 56-36 victory over Smithton.
Bailey Heimsoth and Alyssa Oelrichs scored 14 points each and Camryn Schear added 10 to seal the victory.
The Lady Bluebirds pinned down the Smithton guards with a full-court press and multiple zone defenses. Cole Camp led 16-2 after the first quarter and opened the second half with an 8-0 run, pushing the advantage to 34-12.
Jenna Snapp led the Lady Tigers with 10 points, Hannah Eisenbarth had nine and Audrey Williams finished with eight.
Windsor claimed fifth-place with a 35-23 consolation final victory over Otterville.
The Lady Greyhounds favored its half-court offense, bleeding the clock with a patient approach. Windsor head coach Brad Forrest drew plays on the upper half of a whiteboard, having broken two of its kind through the season.
As Windsor establishes a half-court presence – winning three games in the tournament – Forrest said he’s keeping the broken clip board.
“I broke the first one in Tipton and broke that one at Northwest and then I broke it again some other time,” Forrest said. “That’s why I’ve got half and I refuse to buy another one, because we’ve been playing pretty good since I’ve broken it.”
Jodi Delong led the Lady Greyhounds with 10 points, while Riley Rollins, Taylor Swisher and Shelbie Renno added six apiece.
Otterville was led in scoring by Abby Nichols, who finished with 13 points. Dalanney Stone followed with five.
