NEOSHO, Mo. -- Chasidee Owens admitted she hesitated for just a moment before she drove down the court scored the game-winning basket Tuesday night.
The reason was simple. She thought she had picked up a foul instead of a steal.
How They Scored
Springdale High 51, McDonald County, Mo. 49
Springdale^4^8^10^29^—^51
McDonald County^10^12^8^19^—^49
Springdale (8-3): Goodsell 20, Daniels 16, Owens 5, Mack 4, Pe. Brown 4, Pr. Brown 2.
McDonald County: Ickes 17, Reece 15, Bunch 10, Nelson 4, Garcia 3.
"I just knew they had called a foul right there," the Springdale High junior said after her layup with 7 seconds remaining helped the Lady Red'Dogs take a 51-49 semifinal victory over McDonald County, Mo., in the Neosho Holiday Classic. "Then I just took off."
Owens' layup capped a wild finish as Springdale (8-3) rallied from a 10-point deficit over the final 2:29. She stole the ball away from Coley Ickes near halfcourt, then hit the uncontested layup that gave the Lady Red'Dogs their only lead once she realized no whistle had been blown.
Ja'Vonda Daniels then hit one of two free throws when McDonald County coach Blake Short was given a technical foul for coming on to the court, then Springdale was given the ball afterwards. Owens was fouled and missed the free throw with 5.4 seconds left, then Ickes' halfcourt heave was well off the mark.
"Chasidee really needed that for her confidence," Springdale coach Heather Hunsucker said. "This was not her best game, and I love Chas and she's going to bounce back. What a special play to make for your team, and that shows some resiliency by her."
McDonald County led by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter and owned a 45-35 lead when Eckes hit two free throws with 2 minutes, 29 seconds remaining. Daniels then caught fire at that point and hit a trio of 3-pointers, the last one coming with 1:13 left and making it a 48-46 game.
Eckes, who scored the Lady Mustangs' last six points -- all on free throws -- hit one of two from the line with 42.8 seconds left to make it a three-point lead, but Peanut Brown's bucket with 24.8 seconds made it 49-48 and set up Owens' last-second heroics.
"The start of the game, and the 1-3-1 zone defense, kind of slowed us," Hunsucker said. "I'm going to take a lot of the blame there because I decided not to press. After halftime, I told our girls we had to speed the game up and make the game faster, to our pace.
"You can talk all day long about playing to the final whistle and not quitting, but you saw that in our team. They could have easily folded the tents, and they didn't. They kept competing, they kept fighting and kept scratching. Those are the things that Springdale basketball need to be built on."
Ryann Goodsell led the Lady Red'Dogs with 20 points before she fouled out in the final minute, while Daniels added 16. Ickes finished with 17 to lead McDonald County, followed by Preslea Reece with 15 and Dakota Bunch with 10.
Sports on 12/31/2014