By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
SPARTA — Savannah Koen shook off both pain and then numbness in her right knee to help deliver a 55-53 overtime win for Forsyth versus Sparta in the Sparta Tournament championship game Saturday.
Koen has suffered from Osgood-Schlatter disease since she was 12 years old and pain in her knee flared up in the final minute of the extra period upon falling to the floor.
“I went for the ball and got shoved to the ground and I landed on my knee,” Koen said. “When I land on it like I did tonight, it’s a sharp pain all throughout the knee. The past couple months, it seems like I always get hit with an elbow or something on my knee. When it swells up, it makes me feel dead-legged.”
At the time she aggravated her knee, Forsyth was clinging to a 52-51 lead and had the ball with :30 remaining. The Lady Panthers called a timeout, but Koen remained on the floor during the entire timeout.
“Every time I moved, it would get worse,” Koen said. “So, I just tried to stay there and give myself seconds to breathe. I was in a lot of pain. I knew my team needed me and if I could just push through that we would win this thing.”
“You’re not going to get a kid like that off the floor,” Forsyth coach Mandy Rogers said. “You’re going to have to drag her off the floor. We wanted the ball in her hands.”
Koen received the ensuing in-bounds pass and brought the ball upcourt opposite defensive pressure. That set up Kenzie Calhoun to make two free throws with :19 remaining.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
No. 2 seeded Forsyth fought back from a 13-point fourth quarter deficit. Sparta lost in the championship game of its tournament for the fourth straight year.
The Lady Trojans spotted the Lady Panthers an 11-0 lead, before Sparta’s full-court pressure unraveled Forsyth. The hosts not only gained control but were on the verge of breaking away.
Forsyth’s comeback was triggered by Rogers’ halftime adjustment in which she had Koen and Macy Sanders take over the point guard duties and bring the ball upcourt. At 5-foot-9 and 5-8, they had the height to pass over Sparta’s defenders.
“It was definitely different for me getting used to dribbling the ball down the court because I’m usually a forward. I was a little nervous,” Sanders said. “We were able to see over the defense. We slowed ourselves down and controlled the speed of the game.”
“It’s pretty important when coach is trusting you to bring the ball up the floor,” Koen said. “You’ve got to know your team has your back. If someone is guarding you hard, you’ve just got to look for your teammates.”
“Sparta is so good defensively end to end,” Rogers said. “When we get the stats back, I’m sure we’ll have tons and tons of turnovers. They’ll force you to do that. We kept telling our kids to learn from their mistakes and move forward and keep fighting.
“Big kids made big plays for us and we had kids make big plays all over the place,” she added. “It took everybody to step up big. We knew it would take our whole squad and it did. I’m very proud of our team.”
Sanders scored 18 of game-high 22 points in the second half, Belle Barrickman had 10 points and Koen, Calhoun and Lindsay Essary each contributed seven. Sanders, Barrickman and Koen were named to the All-Tournament Team, with Barrickman named MVP.
Sparta coach Josh Loveland credited Koen for leading the Lady Panthers down the stretch.
“Savannah has always given us problems,” Loveland said. “She is so long and handles the ball well. She does a good job of finding people when they are open. She did a great job finishing the game off and helping them keep their poise.”
Forsyth maintained its composure amidst a frenzied atmosphere and a vocal crowd in a condensed setting. The tournament was held at Sparta’s middle school gym due to the high school gym floor suffering damage after a sprinkler system burst.
The middle school gym has about half the seating of the high school gym.
“The environment was insane in here,” Sanders said. “It’s so hard to beat a team on their own home court. We’re excited about how we played.”
“It was insane, but I loved it. It gave me more energy and hyped me up,” Koen said. “My teammates got a little nervous, but I would tell them to just block it out.”
Defensively, Forsyth held Sparta without a 3-pointer over the fourth quarter and overtime. The Lady Trojans hit five 3s over the first three quarters.
“We had to extend our zone because they have a lot of good 3-point shooters, but not as many people who drive,” Sanders said.
Forsyth’s rally might have still fell short, if not for sub-par Sparta free-throw shooting. The Lady Trojans finished 6-for-17 at the foul line and missed their final four freebies in the final minute of regulation.
“It all started with a few turnovers and (missing) a few easy baskets,” Loveland said. “We still had the game taken care of if we just go to the line and make free throws.”
Forsyth was 17-of-28 on its free throws.
Forsyth players called it their biggest win of the season.
“We were the underdogs for sure. We had to prove ourselves,” Sanders said. “We came here to win. We made the adjustments we needed to make.”
Fans wanting more won’t have to wait long. The teams will have a rematch this coming Friday at Forsyth.
Forsyth 55, Sparta 53
FORSYTH (55) — Blevins 1 0-2 2, Calhoun 2 3-4 7, Sanders 8 6-8 22, Koen 2 3-4 7, Barrickman 3 4-8 10, Essary 3 1-2 7.
SPARTA (53) — Fulton 3 0-0 6, A. Roller 2 0-0 5, Loveland 3 0-1 8, Wilks 6 1-4 13, Holt 2 0-2 6, Brown 5 5-11 15.
Forsyth 15 5 10 19 6 – 55
Sparta 10 13 13 13 4 – 53
3-point goals – Loveland 2, Holt 2, A. Roller.
