Managing Editor
NEW CASTLE â??? Sophomore center Kelly Faris put back a
miss of her own driving layup with one second remaining Dec. 28, lifting Class
2A top-ranked Heritage Christian to a thrilling 49-48 victory over Franklin Central
in the consolation game of the 23rd Annual Hall of Fame Classic at
New Castle Fieldhouse.
Farisâ?? heroics trumped the seeming game-winning
layin just 9.6 seconds before by FC senior center Katie Hacker, whose game-high
21 points were not enough to keep the 4A Flashes from falling to 6-6 on the
season. Heritage Christian, the defending 2A state champion that lost on a
similar last-second play earlier in the day to 4A No. 3 South Bend Washington,
improves to 12-2.
Click here to watch the final 24.7 seconds,
which includes the late-game heroics of both Hacker and Faris!
(NOTE:
To watch the video, you may need QuickTime 7.1. For a free download, click here.)
Both Faris and Hacker were named to the All-Classic
team.
a very good player, and we didnâ??t want to take the outside shot,â? said HC
second-year coach Rick Risinger. â??We definitely wanted to take it to the hole
and take our chances for a free throw, which we were in the bonus, or a layup.
â??Fortunately,
we knocked down the layup.â?
Good
fortune, indeed â??? and a fitting conclusion to a game that was nip-tuck from the
start of the second quarter on. The final three minutes, for example, saw two
ties and two lead changes alone.
But it was
the 5â??11â? Farisâ?? full-court drive and follow that finally put this game to bed,
that effort on the heels of a leaning bank shot from the right side at :29.6
that had put the Eagles back on top at 47-46. After Hacker powered in her
bucket from the right baseline, Faris took that ball the length of the floor
and went up from the left side for a short bank shot.
The ball
caromed off the rim, but Faris was there to make sure the putback was clean
from the right.
â??A play
like that at the end, you just absolutely gotta drive it to the hole,â? Risinger
said.
Ironically,
a putback with one second on the third-quarter clock by senior forward Courtney
Turner had allowed the Eagles to turn a 24-23 halftime deficit into a 36-31
lead heading into the fourth. Eerily, the follow-up bucket was also off a miss
by â?¦ Turner, who led Heritage Christian with 17 points.
â??Turner
played real strong inside,â? Risinger said. â??They did a little junk defense that
left her down there by herself on the baseline, which made it kind of tough on
her.
â??The girls
stepped up, and we were very fortunate to win that.â?
Heritage Christian appeared poised to roll after the
opening period, when seven Franklin Central turnovers resulted in a 17-10 lead
for the Eagles. But the Flashes did a 180 in the second stanza, committing nary
a turnover while holding HC to 2-of-8 shooting en route to a 24-23 halftime
advantage.
The Eagles suffered from bucketless droughts of 3:43
and 3:49 in the period sandwiched around a pair of high-percentage baskets from
sophomore guard Claire Freeman and Turner. Franklin Central, meanwhile,
synergized its flawless ball-handling effort with 5-of-10 shooting to take its
first lead on a Freeman laying 37 seconds ahead of intermission.
â??Theyâ??re a very good team, well coached â??? I knew they would kind of come back,â?
Risinger said. â??The second quarter, we did some things to try to conserve a
little bit of energy with the idea weâ??d come out in the third quarter.
â??It didnâ??t
quite work out that way,â? he added with a chuckle. â??They did a very good job of
controlling the turnovers, which is what they needed.â?
After a
bank shot by sophomore defensive specialist Chanel Simmons gave FC a 31-30 lead
with 2:19 left in the third, however, a 6-0 run by Heritage Christian put the
Eagles back on top by five, setting the stage for a ferocious fourth quarter.
So
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