Lady Mustangs take 61-57 road win

BIC (7-4, 3-0) went on the road to EPC (2-5, 0-3) and came away with a 61-57 win this past Friday night in 2A-3 conference action.

Jalyn Constant got EPC on the board first with a three-pointer as Kendra Towell answered for BIC with a basket in the paint to make 3-2 Lady Warriors. KeKe Johnson hit a jumper for the Lady Warriors as Towell again answered with a jumper in the lane for the Lady Mustangs to make it 5-4 EPC. Zan Young hit a jumper in the lane for the Lady Warriors, Riley Parker scored off the fast break for BIC before Kyla Harston got a stick back basket for EPC making it 9-6 Lady Warriors with just over four minutes left. BIC got triple twine from Arabella Oliver and two free throws and a basket inside from Hallee Wells to take a 13-9 lead. EPC scored the last five points of the quarter as Kelis Garrett hit one of two free throws and got a steal and lay up before Harston put back an offensive rebound to make it 14-13 EPC after one.

Josephine Hanneken scored back to back baskets for BIC around a Kelly Ashcraft basket in the paint for EPC early in the second quarter to make it 17-15 Lady Mustangs with 6:06 left. The Lady Warriors' Kelly Ashcraft got a stick back basket, Hanneken hit one of two free throws for BIC and Johnson put a rebound back in for EPC to make it 20-18 Lady Warriors. Riley Ashcraft hit a jumper in the lane for the Lady Warriors only to see BIC get a steal and layup from Hanneken and a fast break layup from Jaylyn Cagle to tie the game at 22. Young hit a jumper for EPC late to give the Lady Warriors a 24-22 lead at halftime.

Lady Warrior Kelis takes a shot in from BIC's Kendra Towell during 2A-3 girls' basketball action this past Friday in Lepanto. (Photo by Cosmo Cossey)

Towell tied the game at 24 with a basket in the paint for BIC as Wells followed with two free throws for the Lady Mustangs to make it 26-24 Lady Mustangs early in the third quarter. EPC got a jumper from Harston and an old-school three-point play from Johnson to give the Lady Warriors a 29-26 lead. Towell hit two free throws for BIC only to see EPC get a three-ball from Young and a steal and lay up from Johnson to make the score 34-28 Lady Warriors with 5:08 left. Parker hit a jumper for the Lady Mustangs before EPC got back to back baskets from Harston and Garrett to push the Lady Warriors' lead to 38-30. Oliver hit one of two free throws and Wells hit a jumper as BIC cut the lead to 38-33 EPC after three.

Young pushed the EPC lead to 42-33 with two free throws a jumper in the lane to open the fourth quarter before BIC got a basket in the paint from Parker and two free throws each from Towell and Parker making the score 42-39 Lady Warriors. The teams traded points over the next two minutes as Garrett hit a jumper for EPC and Wells stuck back an offensive round for BIC, Harston scored inside for the Lady Warriors, Wells hit two free throws for the Lady Mustangs, Johnson hit one of two free throws for EPC, Oliver hit two free throws for BIC as Riley Ashcraft added two free throws for the Lady Warriors to make it 49-45 EPC with 4:02 left. Wells hit two free throws after EPC's Johnson was given a technical foul to cut the lead to 49-47. Garrett hit one of two free throws for the Lady Warriors only to see BIC get triple twine from Oliver to tie the game at 50 with 2:59 left. Harston converted an old-fashioned three-point play for the Lady Warriors only to see Oliver hit triple twine again before hitting two free throws to give BIC a 55-53 lead. Harston got inside for a score to tie the game at 55 with 1:30 left. Oliver hit one of two free throws to give BIC a 56-55 lead before Garrett scored inside for EPC to make it 57-56 Lady Warriors. Wells converted a conventional three-point play for BIC as Parker added two free throws to set the final score at 61-57 BIC.

“That's about the ugliest basketball game I've ever seen but it is always tough coming in to Lepanto to play a game,” BIC head coach Trevor Matheny said after the game. “Big win for us to move to 3-0 in the conference. We've talked a lot of toughness here lately, not giving up, and we did a good job of that tonight,” Matheny added.

Wells led four player in double digits with 17 points as Oliver finished with 15 points. Towell and Parker both had 10 points for the Lady Mustangs.

“I think we played pretty well, just missed to many lay ups down the stretch and they (BIC) hit their free throws at the end,” EPC head coach Spencer Harston said of his team. “I'm proud of my girls for not giving up. We've been in a rough stretch losing our last four games, but I tell the girls that nothing will change unless they make it change,” Harston added.

Harston led EPC with 15 points on the night as Johnson and Garrett scored 10 points each for the Lady Warriors.