TULSA – With a 12-point lead and just over two minutes remaining in the game, it appeared the Grove Lady Ridgerunners were well on their way to a relatively easy win over McAlester in their regional playoff opener at East Central High School Thursday.
Of course, this being the playoffs and this being the Grove girls, things are never that easy.
“We talked about weathering the storm, weathering adversity,” Grove head coach Richard Bassett said. “I’ve got kids that have experience in these situations.”
The Lady Ridgerunners led 43-31 with 2:14 left, but McAlester made a late charge behind senior guard Kaleisha Johnson, who scored 9 of her game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter. Grove also helped fuel the comeback with six turnovers in the final minutes.
“They’re quicker and more athletic than us and we had trouble getting the ball across midcourt,” Bassett said.
The Lady Buffaloes cut the lead to 43-41 with 30 seconds left when Johnson hit a three from the wing following a Grove turnover. The Lady Ridgerunners finally managed to break the press with an inbounds play to Mason Jeffries which led to Libby Morris being fouled with 23 seconds left.
“They were rolling under everything and we couldn’t get the ball in,” Bassett said. “We just took Mason, had her throw the ball in and then get it back going down the sideline because they were overplaying so hard.”
Morris made one-of-two free throws and, after Shattee Robinson countered with one-of-two free throws for McAlester, the Grove girls were able to run out the final 15 seconds to secure an opening-round playoff win for the second straight year.
Early in the game it was McAlester that came out firing, getting two baskets from Johnson in opening a 7-0 lead. But Grove (17-7) countered with a 13-2 run over the final six minutes of the opening quarter, getting points from five different players.
“We came out really nervous and tentative,” junior guard Emilee Iverson said.
“Once we got over that hump, we knew the game was ours,” Jeffries said. The junior forward would lead Grove with 6 points and 5 rebounds in the first half as the Lady Ridgerunners finished the second quarter with a 7-1 run for a 22-17 halftime lead.
The Lady Ridgerunners led 30-23 after three quarters then used an 11-4 run to take their biggest lead of the night before McAlester nearly stole the win late.
Johnson scored 15 points in the second half for the Lady Buffaloes, but Grove made things tough on her and limited her supporting cast to 16 points for the game.
“She’s a good basketball player,” Bassett said of Johnson. “We wanted her to not just get set shots but have to shoot off the move. We just tried to make it difficult for her and that’s a tribute to our kids playing great defense.”
Grove countered Johnson’s one-woman band with a balanced scoring effort. Jeffries led the way with 12 points and 7 rebounds, while Morris added 9 points and 8 rebounds and Iverson and Taylor Dodson scored 8 apiece.
“Mason always brings energy,” Bassett said. “She’s been that way since sixth grade. You won’t outrebound her, won’t outhustle her.”
Grove will advance to Saturday’s regional final where they will take on the host East Central in a 1:30 p.m. contest. The winner of that contest will advance to the area championship game and will be one win from the state tournament. The loser will drop to the area consolation bracket and will have to win twice to advance to state.
