COLONY — The Crest High girls waited until the final minute to take the lead and defeat Northeast Arma on Thursday while the Crest boys had an easier time in securing their 45-30 victory.
The Lady Lancers (7-9) ultimately got their game-winning basket from Aylee Beckmon on a free throw with six seconds left in the game. Crest trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half but McKenna Hammond put her team ahead for the first time on a layup late.
“I knew they had it in them. They have been great and they never quit,” said Crest head coach Steve Zimmerman of the girls. “I told them if we could score two points at a time we would have a fighting chance.”
Lady Lancers
Things didn’t look hopeful for Crest early after Northeast went on a 7-0 run to end the first quarter. Liberty Sigmon banked in a couple of layups and Autumn Claffey hit a three as part of her five-point first quarter for the Vikings.
“We knew going in it was going to be a tough game, they are a great team,” Zimmerman said. “We just battled together.”
The Vikings kept up their momentum in the second quarter when Sigmon hit a couple of three’s and a layup while Claffey added another three. Cursten Allen hit a three and a layup for the Lady Lancers. The Vikings took a double-digit lead in the second, 23-12.
Haylee Beckmon hit a free throw midway through the second quarter to bring Crest within single digits, 29-21. Hammond also posted a couple of layups.
Crest trailed Northeast at halftime, 37-27.
The Lady Lancers cranked up the defense in the second half when A. Beckmon grabbed a steal and went full court for a layup to bring Crest within four, 39-35. Hammond was then fouled and hit a free throw to make it a 39-37 game.
“I knew going down by 10 at half we were going to play half court man-to-man,” said Zimmerman. “We had to dial it up one more notch with four minutes left and I thought these girls played great. The teamwork was great. They trapped them and made it tough.”
“We wanted it more,” Hammond chimed in.
Kayla Hermreck was also fouled and Hammond went underneath for a layup to go up by one point with only a minute remaining, 40-39. Northeast hit a couple of free throws on the other end to make it a 41-41 game with 16 seconds remaining.
A. Beckmon got the final say for Crest when she was fouled with six seconds left and knocked down a free throw, sealing the victory, 42-41. Northeast was unable to get a shot off on the other end in the final seconds as the Crest crowd went into a frenzy.
“It feels good not to let the team down, help us score and win the game,” Beckmon said. “It feels good to get a win against a team that’s pretty dang good.”
