By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
With just over a minute remaining and his team down by two, McDonald County coach Sean Crane yelled at his defense to “just take it away.”
Freshman Carlee Cooper listened, and promptly stole the ball near half court, scored, and was fouled.
Her three-point play with 1:11 on the clock gave the Mustangs a 49-48 lead and they never relinquished it in a 51-49 win over Logan-Rogersville Thursday night in the Class 5 District 11 girls basketball championship.
“She’s a heck of a player, obviously going to be a good one,” Crane said.
“Early in the year she kind of looked scared, which obviously a freshman starting varsity, but she has grown so much throughout the year and the big thing we needed – crunch time, we need a big player. I really don’t think she looks like a freshman in those moments.”
Top-seeded McDonald County (13-14) also benefited from a free throw by senior Kristen Penn with 26 seconds remaining, while Rogersville went 2-for-4 from the line in the final 23 seconds.
The second-seeded visiting Wildcats (8-15) were in a good spot most of the night. They led by six points at halftime and it was 27-21 two minutes into the third quarter before the Mustangs started edging closer.
A three-point play by junior Abby Wiseman at the 4:27 mark in the third was big but it was still a five point game with 4:15 left in the quarter.
Penn made a free throw, senior Sydney Killion made a free throw, then Killion scored from the floor to make it 29-28. With Rogersville in the midst of three-straight turnovers, sophomore Samara Smith made two free throws at the 2:40 mark to give the Mustangs their first lead since early in the second quarter.
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That run didn’t sink Rogersville, though. The Wildcats had their lead back up to 41-35 with 5:24 left in the game after opening the third with two free throws by junior Lauren Williams and a two by junior Kierra Clark, but Killion answered with a quick three pointer. Penn tied the game at 43 on another triple and Smith tied it at 46 on a three of her own but Rogersville junior Gracie Kibby scored with 1:51 remaining to make it 48-46.
Then came Cooper’s steal and layup and the Mustangs put the game away.
“We knew not everything would go our way but the one thing on the board we wrote in there we had to handle some adversity,” Crane said. “I thought we did a great job. Obviously first half foul trouble gave us some issues. We tried to hide them a little bit. Sydney and Samara sat out for a little while, came back and did some big things. Kristen Penn, four-year starter for us, made a big free throw and a big three, came in huge for us and did some little things people wouldn’t notice defensively.
“The huge thing is we got way, way better throughout the year and we handled adversity, something we didn’t do necessarily early in the year,” he said. “But when we were in a crunch situation tonight we came through and that’s what you want.”
“I think you always feel like it slips away if you’re up six or so but what our kids did was come out here and battle and play extremely hard,” Rogersville coach Jeff Dishman said. “I’m super proud of our group. A few turnovers here and there and maybe a call but I mean, if we don’t bank the shot in down there and if she doesn’t hit it off the top of the backboard down here – it’s a game of what if’s.”
Penn led the Mustangs with 15 points and Killion scored 14. Five other McDonald County players scored at least three. They made 11 free throws out of 22 attempts in the second half and were 13-for-24 in the game.
Rogersville had three in double figures with Kirby scoring 22, Clark scoring 13 and Williams finishing with 10. The Wildcats finished 14-for-21 at the free throw line.
“They’re a good team for a reason,” Dishman said. “He’s a good coach. I thought we played okay at times and again we’re playing a lot of kids this year that don’t have a lot of varsity experience. We had two quarantines, 35 days, and that’s not an excuse. We got beat by a better team tonight and I’d come back down tomorrow and like our chances. It was one of those games. I told them all week it’s going to be close the whole time. We did some great things and we did some bad things.”
McDonald County will face Carl Junction (17-8) in the sectional round on March 10. On Thursday, though, the Mustangs were relishing in their first district title since 2015. Players even cut down one of the nets after the game. Crane, in his first year, got the loudest cheer when he climbed the ladder with a pair of scissors.
He said he wants the program to always be in the picture for a district championship.
“I knew when we took this over, we knew we could do some things,” he said. “Obviously we went a little farther than we expected right off the bat. Thing is to keep building.”
