The circumstances Grace Academy girls’ basketball team faced Friday evening -- playing with 2.6 seconds left in a tie game, against the top-seeded team, with a spot in the district final on the line -- would have forced many young teams to falter.
Instead, Grace Academy executed.
With time running out, senior Claire McMasters set a screen to the high post and delivered the first game-winning shot of her Lady Golden Eagles’ career, securing a 52-50 upset over No. 1 Arts & Sciences in the District 5-A tournament. Fourth-seeded Grace will play for the championship Saturday at 6 p.m. against Boyd-Buchanan, which defeated Silverdale Baptist 53-42 in the other girls’ semifinal on Friday at Arts & Sciences.
“We know that a four can beat a one on any day,” Grace coach Roger Edwards said. “This is a young team, and sometimes it just takes a while to put it all together. And we picked a good day to put it all together.”
The Lady Golden Eagles took a 14-10 lead in the opening quarter, and held a 24-19 advantage at the half. Facing a quick CSAS team, Grace’s biggest challenge was responding to the press, something Edwards said his team did well on Friday.
“We handled their press,” he said. “We attacked it, so they didn’t get anything in transition. We showed some good patience on offense, and we won the battle of the boards.”
Still, the Lady Patriots pulled within four heading into the fourth, and battled to a tie game in the final seconds. CSAS called timeout with Grace in position to take a game-winning shot, giving Edwards time to remind his players exactly what he wanted them to do.
“We’ve never practiced that play,” he said. “I think maybe we used it once in the summer. But it’s a play we’ve had, and we just set it up. When they called timeout, it gave us a chance to review it. Abigail (Smith) got the ball to Claire, and we executed it. It seemed like the ball bounced around the rim for six or eight minutes, but it went in.”
Smith finished with 10 assists, and the shot finished a dominant night for McMasters, who recently surpassed the 1,000 career-point mark. Her 28 points led the Lady Golden Eagles, and Maggie long came off the bench to score 12.
“It was huge,” McMasters said. “We’re a very young team, and it was very intimidating. I feel like the younger girls really put their nerves aside and played all out. This win showed how good our team can be, and is already. It was just exciting. I’ve never had a winning shot before, especially in this big of a game. I was more happy for my team than for myself.”
The win improves Grace’s record to 10-11, and gives McMasters and the team’s two other seniors the opportunity to play for a district title, something the Lady Golden Eagles haven’t done in three years.
“We haven’t been in it since we were freshmen,” McMasters said. “By the look of our season, you wouldn’t think that we’d be here today. Ebony (Ransby) and I talked yesterday about our goals for this game. We said we didn’t want to get in foul trouble, and we didn’t. We just wanted to lead our team to this win.”
BOYD-BUCHANAN GIRLS 53, SILVERDALE BAPTIST 42: Although Boyd-Buchanan led most of the way, it took until the final few minutes for the Lady Bucs to finally put Silverdale away. Boyd-Buchanan held a 29-24 halftime lead, but the Lady Seahawks cut it to a one-point game to start the fourth quarter.
Rachel Sanders’ basket with 6:01 left to play put Silverdale up 38-37 before Marissa McCalla responded with a quick basket for Boyd-Buchanan. Her score sparked a 10-0 run for the Lady Bucs that featured back-to-back 3-pointers from Maddie Abed. That run extended until the 2:35 mark, and Silverdale could get no closer than six the rest of the way.
McCalla led the Lady Bucs with 16 points, and Abed followed with 14. Sanders finished with 15 for the Lady Seahawks, who will face Arts & Sciences in the consolation game Saturday at 3 p.m.
(E-mail Jaime Barrett at jaimenbarrett@gmail.com)
District 5-A Semifinals
At Arts & Sciences
GRACE ACADEMY GIRLS 52, ARTS & SCIENCES 50
Grace 14 10 15 13 -- 52
CSAS 10 9 16 15 -- 50
Grace (52) -- Ransby, Cripps 2, Gonzales, Maggie Long 12, Smith, Me. Long 6, Claire McMasters 28, Parrott 4.
CSAS (50) -- Hampton, Aizha Little 11, Billen 5, Lennex Walker 17, Randolph 9, Hinton, Justice, Ealey 8.
3-point goals: Grace 6 (McMasters 4, Long 2); CSAS 3 (Little, Billen, Walker).
BOYD-BUCHANAN GIRLS 53, SILVERDALE BAPTIST 42
Boyd-Buchanan 15 14 8 16 -- 53
Silverdale 10 14 11 7 -- 42
Boyd-Buchanan (53) -- Maddie Abed 14, Parker 7, Balthrop, Sewell, High 6, Marissa McCalla 16, Wright 8.
Silverdale (42) -- Lewis 9, Skelton 3, Emily Harkleroad 11, Woodard 4, Patrick, Barton, Canter, Rachel Sanders 15.
3-point goals: Boyd-Buchanan 6 (Abed 4, High 2); Silverdale 4 (Lewis 3, Harkleroad).