by Malcolm Butler
It was a fitting end.
Caroline James’ conventional three-point play with 1.4 seconds to play lifted No. 2 seed Cedar Creek to a 47-44 win over No. 3 seed JS Clark Academy at University Center Wednesday afternoon.
With the Lady Cougars season on the line trailing 44-41 in the final two minutes, Creek head coach Katie Hall had a message for her team.
“I kept telling them to get this one stop, get this one rebound,” said Hall. “Keep doing your thing. Don’t hang your head. Persevere through it. I just felt like they knew it. I knew it. It was just something we all knew. It was an exciting game.”
It worked.
Avery Ryan, who finished with 15 points and a career-high 19 rebounds, hit a layup with one minute to play to close the deficit to 44-43. After a turnover by JS Clark on the ensuing possession, Ryan drew a foul after pulling down an offensive rebound and sank 1-of-2 free throws with 27 seconds to play to tie the game at 44-44.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game, and we were going to have to battle,” said Ryan. “But we trust each other. No matter what we always stay together.”
The Bulldogs called a timeout with 22 seconds to play to set up the final possession.
It didn’t work.
A missed shot with 15 seconds to play found the hands of Ryan — her 19th board — who made an outlet pass to junior point guard Taylor Martinez. Instead of calling a timeout, Hall allowed her team to work in transition.
Martinez, who was hounded for much of the game by the JS Clark guards, drove into the lane, found James under the basket who then kissed it off the glass while drawing a foul.
The assist by Martinez on the game-winning play highlighted a game that saw her under heavy pressure for all 32 minutes.
“If you are a point guard, you are going to have turnovers,” said Ryan. “Turnovers are a part of the game. her making that last pass … we all trusted (Taylor). We all trusted her this game. We all trusted each other. If someone wasn’t going to do it, someone else was going to do it. We just trust each other.”
James, who ended with eight points and four rebounds, calmly sank the free throw to push the lead to 47-44. The Bulldogs then inbounded the ball and never got off a desperation heave before the final horn sounded, sending the Lady Cougars into a celebration at half court.
“I think we have gotten to this point by trusting our teammates,” said Hall. “I think it came through at the end. We shared the ball. There were a lot of turnovers. A lot of unforced turnovers, but we are resilient. We didn’t hang our heads or let it bog us down.”
Creek (29-3), which will play in the state title game for only the second time since joining the LHSAA ranks, got off to a strong start.
With both teams utilizing a full-court press, Cedar Creek was able to get some open look in transition as the Lady Cougars built a 12-6 lead when Ryan hit a shot off the glass with 2:27 to play in the opening quarter. It forced the Bulldogs into burning their second timeout of the first six minutes of play.
“I really wasn’t sure how (our press would be) on a large court,” said Hall. “Could we sustain it for a whole game? How would they handle it? It gave us a few possessions early, and I was like, ‘hmm? Maybe we stick with this.’
“And the girls were loving it. They were wanting it too. I’m glad they had enough gas in their tank to sustain it, and then be able to persevere in the fourth quarter.”
After JS Clark phenom point guard Taylor Barnaba converted a conventional three-point play with 49 seconds to play in the first quarter to close the deficit to 12-11, Cedar Creek scored the final five points on a three-pointer by Mallory Smith and a short corner jumper by Martinez.
Creek led 19-15 early in the second quarter when sophomore guard Mary Grace Hawkins provided a spark off the bench. Hawkins converted a three-point play and then on Creek’s next possession, drove through the lane and scored to up the lead to 24-15.
Ryan then scored five points over the next 30 seconds as Creek led 29-17 midway through the second quarter.
“Did you see her run the court,” said Hall when asked about Ryan’s performance. “Did you see her block that shot and run into the cameraman? These are things that she can do to change a game. In the paint she bothers a lot of shots. The way she runs the floor is phenomenal. She is fun to watch when she does that.”
Down 12, JS Clark finished the half strong. The Bulldogs used an 11-0 run over the final four minutes as Tristanie Albert scored seven of the points. Creek led just 29-28 at the break.
The third quarter was back and forth as the two teams exchanged leads.
Barnaba, who scored nine points in the opening quarter, was held in check the rest of the night as James shadowed the jitterbug point guard from one end of the court to the other.
Hall credited James for limiting the Bulldogs marquee scorer.
“Caroline James,” said Hall. “She is a force to be reckoned with when she gets her engine going. (Slowing her down) was our emphasis all week. We felt like it was a big key to this game. Caroline was up for the job, and I thought she did a great job.”
Trailing 37-36 entering the final eight minutes of play, Cedar Creek continued to utilize its full-court press and kept JS Clark quiet on the offensive end.
Lee scored four quick points early in the fourth quarter to give the Lady Cougars a 40-37 lead with just over six minutes to play. But then Creek went cold, not scoring another point until Hawkins hit 1-of-3- free throws with 2:15 to play to close the deficit to 42-41.
The Bulldogs then answered with a bucket with 1:45 to play to up the advantage to 44-41, setting up the dramatic ending.
Hall pointed to wins over Arcadia and Hamilton Christian late in the season, plus games against higher classification teams in November and December, in preparing her team for the close contest.
“(Those games) were so big,” said Hall. “I even go back to games against Airline and Benton. I can say, ‘Hey, remember when?’ We did those things. We did our things. We continue to prove to each other and to ourselves and to our community that we are good.”
“Beating a good team gives us a lot of confidence that we can compete with good teams, and that we are a good team,” said Lee, who ended with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Creek outrebounded JS Clark 46-33 which allowed the Lady Cougars to overcome 23 turnovers which led to 19 points by the Bulldogs.
“That’s a great team,” said Hall. “I felt like we needed to play our best to beat them.”
Cedar Creek will now face No. 1 seed Southern Lab Saturday at 12 p.m. with a state title on the line. Southern Lab defeated OCS 68-16 in the second semifinal game of the day.
