GIRLS

West 57, East 55

The West seemed to have put the game away with four minutes left to play as a basket by Konawa’s Sydney Stoup gave her team a 55-46 lead.

But the East would not go down without a fight. The East ended the game with a 9-2 run, including the game’s final five points, to make the game interesting.

In that 5-0 run, the East got a basket and a free throw by Byng’s Sydney Loggins, a basket by Coalgate’s Leslie Parker and a basket by Ada’s Catie Newport — and almost made it a 7-0 run in the waning seconds.

With about five seconds left, East player, and Tupelo Lady Tiger, Tiffany Postoak stole the ball. She drove to just beyond the halfcourt line to get into open space to attempt a potential game-winning 3-point basket. However, by the time she found some open space to attempt the shot, the buzzer sounded — and the West escaped with a two-point victory.

The West started fast as a basket by Latta’s Sara Miller gave the the white-clad team an 8-2 lead with 5:17 left in the opening period.

But the East responded with an 11-2 run, capped by a basket by Byng’s Meleaia Gray, that put the East on top 13-10. However, back-to-back baskets by Latta’s Cassie Brown and Konawa’s Kassandra McClain regained the lead for the West at 14-13 after one period.

The West stretched the lead to six points twice in the second quarter, the last time came at the 3:35 mark on a basket by Konawa’s Chelsa Porter, to take a 26-20 lead.

The East cut the deficit to a single point at 28-27 with 2:30 left before halftime on a basket by Moss High School’s Bailee Cartwright. However, another basket by Foster with 26 seconds left upped the West lead to 32-28 at halftime.

The East opened the second half with an 8-4 run, capped by a free throw by Cartwright, to tie the game at 36-36 with 4:46 left in the third quarter.

From there, the East ended the period with a 7-4 run as a basket by Ada’s Newakis Girdley with seven seconds left in the quarter gave the East a 43-40 lead entering the fourth period.

After Cartwright hit her second 3-pointer of the game to give the East a 46-43 lead with 7:25 left to play, the West went on a 12-0 run, capped by the basket by Stoup, at the four-minute mark.

Stoup, who edged out Konawa teammate Chassy Foster for the game’s Most Valuable Player honor, scored 13 points to share game-high honors with Foster who also scored 13 points to lead the West. Porter scored 11 points, while Miller added 10 for the West.

In defeat, Cartwright led the East with 11 points.

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