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Instant Classic: Lady Wolves outlast Clear Springs, 107-105, in 5OT epic
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
DUNCANVILLE -- Both the Plano West and Clear Springs girls basketball teams received a standing ovation from the largely impartial crowd on hand at Sandra Meadows Memorial Arena on Friday.
Every last clap was well-deserved after the Lady Wolves and Lady Chargers battled for 52 minutes and combined for 212 points in the highest-scoring game ever in Texas girls high school basketball.
In the end, West proved a mere two points better in a 107-105 victory in the quarterfinals of the Sandra Meadows Classic that wasn't decided until the conclusion of the fifth overtime.
"There's a lot of emotions," added Allison Staley, West senior. "Some excitement, some nerves but all in all, I'm really happy."
A marathon-esque showdown that featured 20 lead changes, 16 ties, numerous clutch shots and crowd-popping sequences, the Lady Wolves at last seized the momentum with 1:18 left in the fifth overtime following an and-1 conversion by junior Tyara Warren-Cox to break the century mark and give West a 100-98 edge.
It was the last of 35 made field goals by the Lady Wolves, who forced a turnover on Clear Springs' ensuing possession and did the rest of their work from the charity stripe.
And despite having logged near an hour's worth of basketball, West had enough left in the tank to drain 9-of-10 free throws in the fifth overtime to seal the win.
Warren-Cox, who led West with 28 points, and senior Grace Horn, who added nine points including seven in the final overtime, supplied the crunch-time ammunition for a West squad soldiering on without senior Devri Owens, who fouled out in the second OT after scoring 27 points.
"Grace really stepped up in the overtimes," Patterson said. "She actually hurt her foot this morning and we weren't sure if she'd play. She gutted it out and that just shows the heart she has ... it was nice to see her and Ty step up and hit those big shots."
Surprisingly, Clear Springs was unable to muster a counterpunch; a shocker given how each team had an answer for the other all throughout the night -- and in the timeliest of moments as well.
Of the five overtimes played, four were forced due to shots made inside the final 15 seconds of the frame. The Lady Chargers assured the action would carry past regulation after JoAnn Lira, who scored 20 in the loss, drained a bucket in the lane to tie the count at 64-64.
Clear Springs was able to expand its first-overtime advantage to 76-73 with eight seconds, but the Lady Wolves rallied behind a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Staley to force a second OT.
"After [Clear Springs] made a free throw, our whole game plan was to get the 3-pointer," Staley said. "It was between me and Devri Owens and I just got lucky. Grace went down and I was wide open."
West never held a lead in either the first or second overtimes but didn't budge, knotting the count at 81-81 after layup by Warren-Cox with eight seconds left to venture into a third OT.
And just as the Lady Wolves looked to finally have the Lady Chargers checkmated following a missed 3-pointer in the waning seconds of the third overtime, Lira was there for a putback with three ticks left for a 91-91 tie.
"It's a thrill to be in one of those games," Staley said. "It gets high-strung, it's so competitive and you can hear the crowd; it's great being in a game like that."
The narrowly-contested nature of the game was evident from the onset, with West and Clear Springs mirroring each other in their varied offensive skill-sets, quick tempo and defensive aggression.
No team led by more than seven points during regulation, as Clear Springs converted on a bevy of open 3-pointers for a 29-22 advantage with 5:30 left in the second quarter. The Lady Wolves quickly closed the gap behind treys from Owens and Staley, the latter of whom scored 15 points in the win.
It was freshman Natalie Chou who added the finishing touches to West's opening half by scoring four straight -- including an and-1 on a spinning floater -- late in the frame to give West a 39-33 lead at the break. Chou tallied 18 points and eight boards.
Courtnie Latham, who led the Lady Chargers with 27 points and 13 boards, sparked a rally in the third quarter that trimmed the deficit to 53-51 entering a fourth quarter where the lead was traded four times.
"I think it shows that we have a lot of heart," Staley said. "We've been struggling a bit but I think it shows that we put a lot of effort and we have so much determination. It shows how much we can overcome so many obstacles to win."
The win prefaced a 66-55 win over Beaumont Ozen Friday at 10:30 a.m. and set the table for a semifinal clash with DeSoto Saturday at 9 a.m.
"I know it'd be heartbreaking not to win but at the same time," Patterson said, "you can't get upset about not winning a game like this because neither team really should have lost.
"It's gratifying that we kept fighting and fighting, just like Clear Springs, and we just made a couple more free throws than them in the end."
Duncanville does it again
Just 24 hours removed from making state hoops history, the Lady Wolves' run through the tournament ended in the same fashion as it did last year: a finals loss to No. 1-ranked Duncanville.
The Pantherettes dealt West a crushing 64-32 loss in the championship round, racing out to a 39-21 lead at halftime and never looking back. Warren-Cox was the lone Lady Wolf to break double figures with 12 points on the night, while Chow contributed nine and Owens dropped four.
With just two losses on the year and both at the hands of the reigning Class 5A State Champions, West set up Saturday's rematch by besting DeSoto in the semifinals, 37-31.
The Lady Wolves were aided by a 15-7 fourth quarter that offset a 13-5 third frame which favored DeSoto.
West opened the tournament with wins over Waxahachie (56-40) and Beaumont Ozen (65-55) to set up Friday night's record-breaking showdown.
The Lady Wolves open District 10-5A play Friday at 7:30 p.m. when they travel to McKinney Boyd.
For continued news and coverage on the local sports scene, follow @MWelchSCN on Twitter.
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