OT Thriller

The Sikeston bench watches as Hayli Chapman (5) takes the final shot of regulation against Charleston Thursday at the Sikeston Field house. Chapman's shot was off the mark and Charleston went on to defeat Sikeston 58-54 in overtime. (Photo by Chris Pobst, Staff)

Lady Bulldogs nipped in overtime by Charleston 58-54

sports@standard-democrat.com

SIKESTON -- The Charleston Lady Bluejays may not be the most consistent shooting team from the floor, but when it comes to hitting their freebies, there's not many better.

Nailing 9 of 10 free throws in overtime, and 23 of 33 overall, Charleston hung on for a wild 58-54 overtime win against the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs Thursday at the Sikeston Field House.

"Free throws won't always win you games, but they sure will lose them," Charleston head coach Josh Thompson said. "We made sure we didn't lose the game from the free throw line tonight."

E'Neikqua Ewing sunk all six of her free throws in the extra frame, helping to seal the deal while Sikeston continually chased from behind.

Both Ewing and Sierra Frazier led the Lady Bluejays with 17 points. Dazique Gillespie, who hit the final two free throws to extend Charleston's lead to an insurmountable four points with 1.1 seconds left, scored 11.

Sikeston was paced by Erica Peet who dropped in 17, 15 of which came in the second half and overtime. Ariana Beard scored eight of her 10 points in the third and fourth quarters.

While Charleston (16-6) thrived at the charity stripe, Sikeston withered. The Lady Bulldogs were a paltry 7 of 24. They failed to make one free throw the entire first half, missing eight opportunities.

"We're not very good shooting free throws. It's no secret," Sikeston head coach Matt Schonhoff said. "Games like this that creeps up on you. When we needed free throws we couldn't get any."

Although points were scarce from the free throw line, Sikeston (5-15) still managed to fight back from 18 points down to eventually tie the game in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.

The Lady Bluejays started the last three minutes of the fourth up 46-41 after two free throws from Frazier. Sikeston slowly chipped away with baskets from Beard and Peet to pull to within one, 47-46, with 1:21 left remaining.

With 30 seconds left, Sikeston came up with a steal and pushed the ball up the floor. After four, point-blank misses from right under the basket, Beard was sent to the free throw line with 12.2 seconds left.

Beard sank the first, tying the game at 47-all, but missed the second. Sikeston claimed the loose ball rebound and sent the ball around the perimeter until in landed in the hands of Hayli Chapman.

After a few dribbles to her right, Chapman launched a 12-footer at the buzzer that fell to the wayside signaling overtime.

"We did a good job of showing intensity in the second half," Schonhoff said. "Intensity is what we lacked in the first two quarters. We weren't quick to loose balls, missed easy shots, didn't shoot free throws, didn't make layups and found ourselves looking up.

"In the second half we challenged (Charleston) and I'm happy about that."

In overtime, Charleston took an early 52-47 lead with free throws from Ewing and Cheyenne Randle as well as a bucket from Frazier.

A free throw from Peet and a basket from Chapman pulled Sikeston to within two, 54-52. But with 18.9 seconds remaining, Ewing sank her fifth and sixth free throws of the overtime to put the Lady Bluejays up by four.

Sikeston continued to fight as Brianna Sherrell scored with five second left, forcing the Lady Bulldogs to foul Gillespie after the inbound with 1.1 left showing on the clock.

Gillespie nailed both sealing the Lady Bluejays' win.

Although they managed to claw back into the game, Sikeston got off to a rough start to say the least.

In the first seven and a half minutes of play, the Lady Bulldogs scored just four points. Sherrell ended their longest scoring drought of the night with 22 seconds left in the first quarter with a 3-pointer.

By that time, though, Charleston enjoyed a comfy 19-7 lead.

Sikeston rattled off a 10-4 run to start the second quarter. Charleston, however, answered with a 8-2 rebuttal to end the first half ahead 31-19.

"We pushed the ball up and down the floor really well in the first half," Thompson said. "That was not really a game Sikeston wanted to play, I don't think. That second half, I think we got tired and the big floor (at the Field House) makes a huge difference. But, we were able to grind out a win when we needed to."

Sikeston, who fell behind 38-20 in the third quarter, ended up outscoring Charleston 28-16 in the second half which led to the wild finish in overtime.

"I think we got tired, to be honest about it," Thompson said. "We stopped pushing the ball and Sikeston made us win it. They weren't going to beat themselves. They forced us to beat them and, thankfully, we did."

CHARLESTON (58) -- Sierra Frazier 17, Juwanna Walker 4, Cheyenne Randle 8, E'Neikqua Ewing 17, Dazique Gillespie 11, Shanaia Webster 1. FG 17 FT 23-33 F 20. (3-pointers: Gillespie 1. Fouled out: none.)

SIKESTON (54) -- Hayli Chapman 8, Mikala Nichols 8, Erica Peet 17, Brianna Sherrell 5, Ariana Beard 10, Yolanda Johnson 6. FG 23 FT 7-24 F 21. (3-pointers: Sherrell 1. Fouled out: Peet, Johnson.)