LIBERTY, Ind. – Hope was about all Kaley Harrison had on Wednesday night.
“I got open and I heard people yelling shoot,” the Tri High junior said of getting an in-bound pass from teammate Auburn Harvey with 1.3 seconds on the clock. “I didn’t have time to look at the clock, so I kind of threw it up up there hoping it would go in.”
Harrison’s 3-pointer banked into the the hoop at the buzzer as the Titans earned a 46-43 Tri-Eastern Conference victory over Union County in girls basketball.
Union County recovered from a slow start to build a 38-31 advantage with 5:01 remaining in the contest.
“We just did not finish,” Union County Head Coach Scott Gray said. “We were stagnate (offensively) in the fourth quarter.”
“It kind of snowballed at the end and the girl hits a great shot with the buzzer going off,” Gray added.”
The Titans finished with a rally.
Maddie Burchett scored to cut the deficit to 40-39 at the 1:47 mark.
“That’s when you could see the kid’s heads perk up,” Tri High Co-Head Coach Jeff Miller said. “We matured.”
“We were down 38-33 and our kids are still talking, ‘we’re not quitting.’ I was proud of them for that,” Miller continued.
After a free throw by the Patriots, Burchett put the Titans on top as she got fouled hitting a lay-up. With the free throw, the Titans led 42-41 with 1:19 left to play.
Harvey hit 1-of-2 from the line to make it 43-41 with 35 seconds to go.
Union County’s Madison Gray followed with a rebound basket to tie it with 10 seconds on the clock to set the stage for Harrison.
Fast Start
The Titans dominated the game early with long range bombs to take a 12-0 lead before Gray ended the run at the the 4:33 mark of the opening period.
“That scares me when we do that.” Miller said. “I call that a false lead because you know you are not going to shoot like that the whole ball game.”
Switching defense made the difference for the Patriots.
“That’s what I love about this group,” Gray said. “Our kids got punched in the mouth. Once we went man, we were fine.”
The Titans led 18-9 at the first stop before the Patriots cut their deficit to 25-23 by halftime.
After three quarters, Union County held a 32-28 advantage.
“I was proud of my kids,” Gray said. “I thought they played hard.”
Payton Moore led the Titans with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Harrison and Harvey ended with nine points apiece.
Burchett tossed in seven points, which all came in the final stanza.
Gray led the Patriots with 18 points. Fayth Hill finished with nine points and a team-high five rebounds.
Tara Williams added seven points. Gray and Williams both had four rebounds.
Union County won the JV contest 28-17 as Brooklyn Wilson led the way with 10 points. Haylee Richards finished with six points.
For the Titans, Madison Hill had eight points.
The Titans (8-2, 3-2) are at Cowan (3-6) on Friday night.
Union County (5-6, 3-1) visits No. 7 Winchester (11-1, 5-0) for a TEC match-up on Saturday.