BY MIKE RILEY
CHARLESTOWN — It was billed as the last girls’ basketball game at the Bill Dunn Sports Arena. And the Charlestown Lady Pirates made it one to remember — almost.
Trailing by seven points with less than a minute to go in regulation, Charlestown fought back with the game going to double overtime before North Harrison prevailed 48-43.
Charlestown (11-9, 4-5 MSC) pulled to within 33-32 on a Brittany Bennison 3-pointer with 17 seconds left. After Cassie Crawford of North Harrison (7-12, 4-4) hit one of two free throws, the Pirates’ Amanda Miller hit a driving layup with four seconds left to tie the score.
Charlestown took a 39-37 lead in the first overtime on two Miller free throws with 12 seconds left. But the Pirates’ Jennifer Watson fouled the Lady Cats’ Deidre Book on the inbounds play.
After Book hit 1-of-2 at the line, Miller was fouled again. She made both shots with just seconds left, but that was enough time for the Lady Cats to work the ball to the right corner where Kelsey Brunner drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie it.
Turnovers were the Pirates’ downfall in the second overtime as they coughed it up on four straight possessions. And the Lady Cats, who nearly lost the game with 5-of-10 from the line in the fourth quarter, converted 4-of-6 in the two overtime periods.
“Despite not having one senior starter (Alicia Zollman) due to illness, we had many chances to win this game,” said Charlestown coach Tony Hall. “Not by making outstanding plays, but smart plays.
"Why did we foul on that inbounds pass? We were supposed to go for the steal. Then we had a girl in the zone that didn’t come up. Someone else had to and that gave them a wide-open look from the corner.
“We needed just one more stop, one more free throw, one more rebound, one more anything. I’m proud of the way the girls fought back. It takes a lot of guts to come back, but you need the smarts to win it.”
Charlestown started as if it was going to run North Harrison out of the gym as the Lady Cats missed their first eight shots and trailed 12-3 after a quarter. But North Harrison regrouped to trail just 17-16 at halftime and led 22-19 after three quarters. After scoring 12 in the first period there were about two minutes left in regulation before Charlestown doubled their score.
In her last appearance before the home crowd, Miller scored the 1,000th point of her career and led the Pirates with 21 points. Bennison added 17 points.
"I can’t say enough about my seniors, Amanda and Laci Williams,” Hall said. “They both played great tonight.”
Brunner led North Harrison with 15 points. Crawford finished with 11 and Book had 10.
Charlestown will travel to Madison on Friday before facing Salem in the opening round of the Class 3A Silver Creek Sectional next Wednesday.
“Our goal is to win the sectional and I hope all of my players and coaching staff are on the same page with that,” Hall said. “All of our practices between now and then and the game Friday are to prepare us to get ready for Salem and to win the sectional.”
NORTH HARRISON 3 13 6 12 7 7—48
CHARLESTOWN 12 5 2 15 7 2—43
North Harrison (7-12, 4-4 MSC) — Hartley 6, Jones 2, Book 10, Brunner 15, Crawford 11, Fonda 2, Giles 2, Summers 0.
Charlestown (11-9, 4-5) — Young 0, Williams 1, Bennison 17, Miller 21, Watson 0, Sherrill 4, Thrasher 0, Moore 0.
3-point field goals — North Harrison 3 (Brunner, Crawford 2); Charlestown 1 (Bennison).
Rebounds — North Harrison 23 (Jones 11); Charlestown 28 (Bennison 8).
Turnovers — North Harrison 20, Charlestown 24.
Junior varsity score — Charlestown 42, North Harrison 31.
