STEARNS —
A blocked shot with just seconds left on the clock found its way to the hands of Lady Raider sophomore guard Megan Stevens who was under the goal and easily put the ball in for a game winning basket just ahead of the horn to give McCreary a huge win over Monticello, 53-51 at home Thursday night.
McCreary took a 15-8 lead after the first quarter of play and extended that lead to 22-8 when Brittany King hit a three pointer followed by baskets from Candance Foster and Kaylee Cotton to cap off a 7-0 run to open the second quarter.
Monticello would start to chip away at the lead though scoring five straight points to start a 14-6 run that pulled them to within six points at 28-22 with :38 left in the half.
McCreary would get a basket from Cotton and a pair of Cierra Terry free throws before the end of the half however to push the lead back to nine, 32-23 at the break.
In the second half the Lady Trojans would continue to close the gap while the McCreary offense consisted of one free throw each from Cotton and Terry for the first four minutes of the third quarter.
Monticello used the Lady Raider struggles to close to within three points, 34-31 just before the midway point of the third period. Cotton scored on a put back for Central’s first field goal of the half with 3:45 on the clock to give the Lady Raiders a 36-31 lead.
Monticello would end the quarter on a 9-2 run however scoring five straight to tie the game at 36-36 on a Sarah Miller basket with two minutes to go in the third. Then after a pair of free throws by Cotton put McCreary back on top Senior Autumn Bell scored to tie the game back up and then gave the Lady Trojans the lead with another bucket following a McCreary turnover.
Cotton scored inside to start off the final period knotting the game back up at 40-40 but Miller would counter for the Lady Trojans putting them back on top.
McCreary’s Brittany King hit her third three pointer of the contest to briefly put the Lady Raider’s on top but Bell answered on the other end with one of her own and Monticello was again up by two, 45-43 at the 6:30 mark.
The Lady Raiders would tie the score for the fourth time in the half when Cotton scored following a Monticello turnover and then Foster would score with a driving lay up over Bell to put McCreary back in front 47-45.
Bell would answer again however tieing the game again at 47-47 with 4:00 left to play.
McCreary would open the lead a bit though as Megan Stevens nailed a huge three pointer from the right wing at the 3:46 mark. The lead would grow to four as Terry hit the first of two free throws making the score 51-47 but she would miss the second and on the following possession missed the front end of a one and one trip to the line.
Monticello would once again fight back scoring a basket by Destinee Duncan while drawing a foul. She would miss the free throw by freshman Bethany Peyton would come up with the rebound and score to tie the game 51-51 with 1:12 left to play.
The Lady Raiders would hold the ball for the final shot with Candance Foster starting off from near midcourt with about nine seconds to go and the taller Bell guarding her. Foster tried to drive by Bell to her right but would have dribbled into a double team so she kicked a pass out to Cierra Terry near the three point line. She quickly put down a dribble and drove to her left and into the lane. Just as she went to loft up a short runner in the lane Bell stretched out an arm from behind and blocked the shot attempt. Bell’s block however would send the ball directly to Megan Stevens who had moved into the lane from the left baseline and was wide open at point blank range for an easy lay in just ahead of the horn giving McCreary the two point win.
The win kept the Lady Raiders well in the hunt for the top seed in the district after Southwestern dropped it’s game with Wayne County on Tuesday night.
Kaylee Cotton led McCreary with 19 points and eleven rebounds. Brittan King and Megan Stevens finished with 9 points each. Candance Foster also was in double figures in rebounding with 10.
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Related Photos
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Monticello’s Autumn Bell blocked Cierra Terry’s shot attempt but the ball went straight to Megan Stevens (00) who put it in for the win. Chris Hollis
McCreary Girls Edge Monticello to Stay in District Race
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