H.S. GIRLS' BASKETBALL: Uhl hands Highlanders a heartbreaker

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Floyd Central's Brooke Hinton led the Highlander with 17 points in Saturday's heartbreaking loss to Corydon Central. File photo Staff photo by Kevin McGloshen

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January 20, 2013

H.S. GIRLS' BASKETBALL: Uhl hands Highlanders a heartbreaker

Game-winning shot with eight seconds helps Corydon knocks off Floyd Central, 50-49

By CHRIS STONER sports@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Sun Jan 20, 2013, 01:46 AM EST

FLOYDS KNOBS — The ball hung on the rim for what seemed like half and hour, but eventually Kayla Uhl’s driving shot off the glass fell through with 8 seconds remaining and Corydon Central nipped Floyd Central 50-49 Saturday afternoon at Highlander Gymnasium.

The host Highlanders had a final shot to win but Madison Kasier’s baseline jumper fell just short.

“In hindsight, I would have had Brooke come across the baseline and get it but Madison did a nice job there,” Floyd head coach Kirk Hamsley said of the game’s final play. “She needed to take one more dribble there, but Tori got the board and I thought she got fouled at the end, but we got what we wanted so that’s all you can do there.”

Floyd (9-8) held the Panthers to just 38 percent shooting but committed 16 turnovers and had four giveaways in the final period.

“Anything over 10 [turnovers] is going to make a big difference in the game,” said Hamsley, whose team has now lost five of its last six games. “We struggled with their 1-3-1 defense early. [Corydon] did a nice job with it. We weren’t ball faking well or making good decisions against that zone early. We struggled getting into scoring position. We did better in the second half.”

In the first period, Taylor Frederick pumped in eight of her team-high 17 to power Corydon (13-5) to a 12-10 lead at the first stop. The Highlanders grabbed their only lead of the first half on a Tori Kingsley bucket at 4:57 in the second, 17-15. The Panthers, who have now won five straight, led by two at halftime courtesy of nine first half Floyd turnovers.

“At halftime, we talked about going inside more with Tori and Niki [Bruno],” Hamsley recalled. “I thought we did a decent job of that. We just needed to take care of the ball better against their traps.”

Floyd lit the nets on fire shooting 8-of -11 in the third and took a 39-38 advantage into the final quarter. Kingsley and Brooke Hinton, who led Floyd with 17, combined for 10 points in the third.

The final stanza was back and forth the whole way and before the Panthers found the last bucket. Floyd had beaten Corydon four straight times before Saturday.

“It was a pretty even game both ways,” Hamsley said. “A bucket here or there makes a difference in a grinding game like this and it did today.”