After surrendering a seven-point lead early in the fourth quarter to Bishop Brossart, Mason County had the chance to get back ahead with Victoria Brooks heading to the line with the score tied, 40-40, and 3:33 to go.
But both free throws missed the mark.
Instead, 5-foot-5 sophomore guard Milyn Henry came down with an offensive rebound, Mason County coach Brad Cox called a timeout and the Lady Royals scored the next eight points before hanging on to hand the Lady ‘Stangs their first loss of the season, 50-47, in the third game of the US Bank Mike Murphy Classic on Saturday.
“That’s a huge play. You just want to go out and try to make plays, play the next play and don’t worry about missed shots and just step up and Milyn made a play,” said Mason County coach Brad Cox.
“We needed that. We took a tough one last night in a tough road game at Simon Kenton and then a 24-hour turnaround,” added Cox. “We didn’t really shoot the ball particularly well from the outside or the free throw line and we found a way to win and made some baskets at the end and got some stops. I’m proud of the girls.”
Following the timeout with 3:23 to go, Emma Taylor put the Lady Royals ahead with a layup and made it a three-point lead with a free throw with just under two and a half to play. Rachel Payne put a shot off the backboard and in while falling away from the basket to make it a five-point lead.
Brooks drove to the basket and finished to make it 47-40, before scoring her 10th point of the evening from the free throw line.
“We switched to a to the zone and mixed up our zones a little bit and that helped and we were able to get some rebounds,” said Cox.
A putback from Marie Kiefer ended the Mason County run with 14 seconds to play. After getting the Lady Royals to turn it over, Lily Cropenbaker made a baseline jumper to cut the Lady Royals’ lead to four with 7.6 seconds remaining.
Haley White gave Mason County some breathing room with two free throws after 1.3 seconds ran off the clock and Rosie Jump made a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but it was too late for any more from the Lady ‘Stangs as they were dealt their first loss of the season.
Mason County held a 14-12 lead at the end of the first quarter with the help of seven points from Taylor.
A triple from Laurel Hunter at the start of the second put Bishop Brossart back on top. The lead changed four times before half after that, with the Lady ‘Stangs ahead by a point heading into the break thanks to two free throws from Cropenbaker.
The Lady Royals outscored the Lady ‘Stangs, 10-7, in the third quarter to take a 35-33 lead into the fourth, where they started on a 5-0 run to make it a 40-33 advantage.
Taylor finished with 18 points to lead Mason County. Brooks had 10, Payne had seven, Samantha Schumacher had six and Henry had five for the Lady Royals, who move to 4-3 with the win. The Lady Royals are scheduled to host Rowan County on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Kiefer led Bishop Brossart with 15 points, while Cropenbaker had eight, Madison Crowe had seven and Jump had five. The Lady ‘Stangs fall to 6-1 with the loss and are scheduled to host Somerset on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
LADY ROYALS 50, LADY ‘STANGS 47
BISHOP BROSSART—12-14-7-14—47
MASON COUNTY—14-11-10-15—50
Scoring:
BISHOP BROSSART (47) — Kiefer 15, Cropenbaker 8, Crowe 7, Jump 5, Rowe 4, Frommeyer 3, Hunter 3, Schultz 2
MASON COUNTY (50) — Taylor 18, Brooks 10, Payne 7, Schumacher 6, Henry 5, Littleton 2, White 2
Field Goals: BB 16/44, MC 4/16
3-Pointers: BB 4/16, MC 0/5
Free Throws: BB 11/21, MC 10/21
Rebounds: Bishop Brossart 37 (Kiefer 15), Mason County 33 (Brooks 8)
Assists: Bishop Brossart 5 (Schultz 2), Mason County 7 (Brooks, Payne 3)
Turnovers: Bishop Brossart 19, Mason County 11
Records: Bishop Brossart 6-1, Mason County 4-3
