Riding an eight-game win streak, with a no. 14 state Class B ranking and fresh from its most dramatic moment of the season, the Bishop Grimes girls basketball team would go after Westhill Saturday night in the “Hoops for the Hospital” finale.
Of course, that win streak nearly didn’t reach eight in a row.
Grimes was on the brink of a road loss at Marcellus Thursday night until Teresa Shattuck rescued them and forced overtime, where Jordan Vaught led the way and helped the Cobras fight off the Mustangs 75-69.
Trailing by three, 60-57, with four seconds left in the fourth quarter, Grimes saw the Mustangs’ Rylie Spicer miss the front end of a one-and-one free-throw chance, which kept the Cobras alive.
Not calling a time-out, Grimes raced down the court. With Vaught, well-covered by the Marcellus defense, Shattuck had no choice but to shoot herself.
From well beyond the 3-point arc, Shattuck fired just as the buzzer sounded. Whether the shot got off in time, it fell, and was called good, tying it at 60-60.
At first, the Mustangs shook off the shock of that shot and took a 64-60 lead early in the OT period. But Grimes rallied again, going in front, 66-65 on a basket by Tina Hoag, seeing her first game action since injuring her ankle in the first meeting with Westhill on Dec. 19.
After an exchange of baskets, Marcellus, down 71-69, missed a possible go-ahead 3-poitner in the waning seconds. Three more Grimes free throws sealed by Vaught and Katy McInerney sealed it.
Hot early shooting gave Marcellus a 26-13 lead early in the second quarter before Grimes closed the half on a 14-2 run. The Cobras pulled in front in the third quarter, but Marcellus shook it off and reclaimed the lead and stretched it out to six, 58-52, with less than two minutes left.
It was still a four-point edge, 58-54, when Vaught’s 3-pointer with 27 seconds left cut the Mustangs’ margin to a single point. Marcellus’ Nicole Wynne made a pair of free throws five seconds later, making it 60-57.
When Vaught missed a pair of free throws seconds later, Marcellus had a chance to seal it. Instead, Spicer cracked the door just enough for Shattuck and the Cobras to bust through.
Vaught, by the time she was done, had 33 points, while Megan Costello had 18 points,
negating a well-balanced Mustangs effort. Lauren Soule led with 15 points. Shattuck managed nine points, including her dramatic game-tying heave, before fouling out in OT as McInerney managed eight points.
Marcellus, in defeat, had a well-balanced effort. Lauren Soule led with 15 points, with Wynne (14 points) and Meghan Witkowski (12 points) close behind as Shelby Nye got eight points, Molly MacLachlan seven points and Spicer six points.
