Wahconah Edges St. Johnsbury for Hoophall Title
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Anna Doyle sank two free throws with 18.5 seconds left, and Sammy Kaley blocked a potential winning shot at the buzzer as the Wahcoah girls basketball team Sunday earned a 40-38 win over St. Johnsbury Academy, Vt., in a bracket final at the Hoophall Invitational.
Madison McCarthy scored 16 points to lead Wahconah in its second win of the weekend at Springfield International Charter School.
The St. Jay Hilltoppers battled back from a 13-point half-time deficit to tie the game, 38-38, with just fewer than two minutes left to play.
Wahconah's first chance to retake the lead rimmed out with 1 minute, 43 seconds left on the clock. It had another look at the basket with just less than a minute left that went off the back rim.
But after a held ball with 35 seconds left, Wahconah got possession on a sideout. Doyle got the ball high on the left wing and drove into the middle of the lane, drawing a foul with 18.5 seconds left.
She sank both free throws for her first points of the game to give Wahconah the lead for good.
"Obviously, that's not an easy thing to do," Wahconah coach Liz Kay said. "But getting to the line and being willing to take those two shots with 18 seconds left, that's a true senior."
Another senior, McCarthy, stepped up with six points in an 11-0 run that gave Wahconah a double-digit lead in the second quarter.
Danielle Hagmaier got things started with an assist from Brooke Harrington to break a 12-12 tie. McCarthy then scored a basket and, moments later, was fouled in transition; she made one shot to make it 17-12.
Harrington then set up Kaley for a 3-pointer before McCarthy knocked down a triple in transition to give Wahconah its biggest lead to that point at 23-12.
Hagmaier converted an and-one in the final minute of the half to make it a 14-point margin, and Wahconah ended up with a 26-13 lead in the 26-13 lead in the locker room.
The Hilltoppers chipped away in the third quarter, helped by a couple of 3s from Brianna Bunnell (14 points) and a defense that limited Wahconah to just six points.
Wahconah went to the fourth clinging to a two-point lead at 32-30.
Hagmaier hit a 3 from the top of the key and set up McCarthy for a basket early in the period to stretch the lead to 38-32.
But St. Johnsbury rallied, holding Wahconah scoreless for three minutes and finally getting a Bunnell triple to tie the game, 38-38, with two minutes left.
AFter Doyle's free throws gave Wahconah a two-point lead, the Hilltoppers called timeout and were able to get a good look at the basket, but Kaley got her fingertips on the ball to send it harmlessly off course as the buzzer sounded.
While the game itself had plenty of drama, McCarthy provided a little extra reason for the Wahconah fans to be on the edges of their seats.
Her 3-pointer early in the fourth gave McCarthy 16 points for the game and 998 points for her career. She had a couple of shots down the stretch but could not get over the hump.
"I'm kind of glad she didn't get it, because, at that point, they're not going to stop the game," Kay said of the final minutes. "And I think she deserves that moment. And if she gets it there with under a minute to go, they're not going to stop for a ceremony.
"The good news is we can play Taconic [Wednesday]. She can get it home with a little less pressure on her shoulders."
Speaking of pressure, Wahconah Sunday showed it perform in big moments with a trophy on the line.
"We finally won a game that has a little bit of a close-knit feel to it," Kay said. "That's a really good feeling in January.
"I'm not a huge fan of Christmas time tournaments, because you don't really know who you are yet. This will be a huge propellant for us as we move toward the second half of the year."