MORAN — Southern Coffey County High’s girls got an early taste of some March Madness Tuesday.
Marmaton Valley’s girls just went home mad.
A crucial technical fouled whistled on Marmaton Valley with 13 seconds left set the stage for Southern Coffey County first to tie the score with a free throw, then win the game on Taryn Lather’s putback at the buzzer for a 37-35 win to open the Class 1A Regional Tournament.
The Lady Titans (7-13) advance to Friday’s regional semifinal, where they’ll take on top seed St. Paul at 7:30 p.m. Marmaton Valley is the host school for the semifinal and final rounds. The Wildcats’ season ends at 8-12.
“I didn’t know whether that was going to crawl over the rim,” SCC head coach Jeff True said of Lather’s clincher.
In a contest in which both teams struggled to score, the critical moments came when the Lady Titans’ Reed Szambecki was fouled by Marmaton Valley’s Mykayla Ard with 13.3 left on the clock and the Wildcats up 35-34.
After being whistled for the foul, Ard said something to the official’s apparent disliking, and he called her for the technical.
Szambecki hit 1 of 4 free throws — the missed charities played a key role for both teams — to knot the score at 35-35. Just as importantly, it meant the possession stayed with SCC.
True drew up a play with the hopes of drawing Marmaton Valley out of its 1-3-1 zone.
“We ran (Szambecki) across the top and we were hoping to draw the defense a little bit and get us a book from the backside,” True explained.
The gambit worked — sort of.
Bryli Copeland missed a short jumper for the Titans from the left elbow. Szambecki corralled the rebound, but also was off the mark on her guarded jumper from the lane.
That left Lather open underneath as the clocked neared zero. She collected the ball and put it off the backboard just before the buzzer sounded. The ball hesitated ever so slightly as it hit the rim before falling through, as the Lady Titans danced with delight.
Wildcat head coach Sherry Bagshaw said Ard’s exasperation with the call led to the technical.
“The referees swallowed their whistle and never made that call” up to then. Bagshaw said. “And so my girl was really frustrated.”
The game was nip and tuck from start to finish.
The teams traded the lead five times and had three ties through the first two quarters before SCC sought to take control in the second half.
