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| Alicia Hett 12 second half points (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
Alicia Hett's basket with seven seconds to play gave the home team its first lead since early in the first half before Hastings' Lauren Thomas hit a jumper at the buzzer to send the Raiders home with smiles on their faces.
The loss was especially hard to swallow for the Tigers because they were within one possession of snapping a nine-game losing streak and will now likely draw prohibitive favorite Lakeville North in the opening round of the Section 1 tournament.
" I liked how the kids showed grit and rallied back from such a deficit," Tiger coach Sondra Chadwick said. "They maintained their composure to execute our final play.
"Even though it broke down, they recognized the second option was open and executed it perfectly. Hastings just made a nice shot at the end."
The Tigers led early but foul trouble, (13 in the first half) and poor shooting (6 for 28) aided a closing 18-6 run by the Raiders that resulted in a 27-19 Hastings lead at intermission. Thirteen of the Raiders first half points cam from the foul line.
"Due to depth problems (starters Abby Gallus and Kaitlyn Gorden were both out), and Sydney’s (Speer) foul trouble, we were not able to press as much in the first half as I would have liked," Chadwick said. "They (Hastings) were also beating us badly on the boards."
Hastings extended its lead to 37-22 early in the second half and still led by 11 points with seven minutes left in regulation. That's about the time the game changed complexion.
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| Leah Hammond 4 three-pointers |
Two possessions later, Hett drained a three to tie knot the score at 45-45 but Hastings countered with a basket and two free throws to go back up by four with under a minute to play in regulation.
Sofia Chadwick drilled a three-pointer with 30 seconds left and then came up with a steal to set up Hett's heroics with seven ticks remaining.
Hastings called timeout, got the ball to Thomas and the senior found the bottom of the net just as the horn sounded.
Sofia Chadwick led a balanced scoring attack for the Tigers with 14 points despite being the object of a box-and-one defense most of the second half. Hett scored all of her 12 points after the break and Hammond totaled a dozen on her four three-pointers. Homeier finished with eight points.
"I liked the offensive output of our guards," coach Chadwick said, "and Callie Halterman gave us a spark off the bench in the second half.
"We need to get some points from the interior, get to the line more often, and defend the paint better."
The next chance to do that comes next Tuesday when the Tigers resume Missota Conference play with a home game against state-rated New Prague.
