by Malcolm Butler
Cedar Creek jumped out to a double digit lead, survived a furious Northwood rally behind torrid three-point shooting, and then came up with a late run to down the Falcons 55-53 Thursday night in the first day of the Quitman Tournament.
In the waning moments of a tie game, the Lady Cougars forced a miss by Northwood and senior Mallory Smith took an outlet pass up the court, racing to the basket for the go-ahead bucket with just eight seconds to play.
Northwood (3-5) got off a final desperation three from 35 feet that hit off the front of the rim, sending the Lady Cougars to the victory. It was one of the few three-pointers the Falcons missed on the night.
“On the film we watched on them, I was concerned about them getting to the rim and breaking our defense down,” said Creek head coach Katie Hall. “I wanted to play a zone and see if they could shoot from the outside … and obviously we found out tonight they can shoot from the outside. They hit a lot of three-pointers, but they are just so good at getting to the basket.”
The Lady Cougars (5-1) came out of the gates strong, igniting for 26 first quarter points and taking a 15-point advantage (26-11) at the end of the first period.
Hall’s team then pushed the advantage out to 31-14 on an Alivia Lee driving layup with 7:02 to play in the second quarter.
“I think our defense, our press, was effective tonight and it energized us offensively,” said Hall. “Before the game started, I was nervous. We were pretty chill. It was good to watch the ball go through the basket. It is exciting when that happens.”
Down 17 and looking for a spark, Northwood turned to the perimeter. The Falcons began raining down three-pointers as Makayla Rogers hit four of her six trifectas in the second quarter, helping Northwood close the deficit down to 37-30 at the half.
Creek appeared to regain the momentum early in the third quarter on a Lee three-pointer and a Mary Grace Hawkins midrange jumper that pushed the score to 42-30.
Leading 44-33 after an Avery Ryan bucket with just over five minutes to play in the quarter, the Lady Cougars went ice cold. Northwood closed the quarter on a 15-0 run and took a 48-44 lead into the final eight minutes of action.
Northwood took its largest lead of the game at 53-48 with four minutes to play before the Lady Cougars clamped down defensively, holding the Falcons scoreless the rest of the way.
“This game will be a great reminder as we go through the season that we can do hard things,” said Hall. “I was glad we showed some grit and some determination down the stretch. There were parts of the game where I didn’t think we were being tough enough. I was proud of our team for showing that type of grit.
“We had to keep changing up defenses down the stretch. We went man because they were starting to stall. They missed some shots and we were able to get some rebounds. We were tired. They were tired. I think we wore them down, and I think that was a big factor late in the game.”
Junior Taylor Martinez was the epitome of that grit in the fourth quarter, scoring nine straight points for the Lady Cougars to keep Creek within striking range. Martinez scored on a drive down the lane to make the score 53-50 with 3:40 to play and then knocked down a 15-footer with 2:20 to play.
Her free throw with exactly 60 seconds to play tied the game at 53-53, setting up the final dramatic ending.
“She wanted the ball,” said Hall. “She has the grit. She has the mentality to never never quit. I think our team followed her lead. She made some big buckets. She was very vocal. I couldn’t be more proud of her.”
The game saw just six free throws shot between the two teams.
Martinez led the Lady Cougars with 16 points while Smith added 12 and Lee finished with 10.
Rogers led Northwood with 21.
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Cedar Creek Scoring: FG(3FG)-FT-TP
Mary Grace Hawkins 3-0-6; Caroline James 1-0-2; Alivia Lee 4(2)-0-10; Taylor Martinez 7(1)-1-16; Avery Ryan 4-1-9; Mallory Smith 5(2)-0-12. Totals: 24(5)-2-55
Score by Quarters
Cedar Creek 26-11-7-11=55
Northwood 11-19-18-5=53
