On the line: Colgan鈥檚 foul shot lifts Lady Colonials to 37-36 road win
CONNELLSVILLE 鈥� Lauren Colgan made the first of two foul shots with 10.1 seconds left in Thursday鈥檚 Section 3-AAAAA game and visiting Albert Gallatin survived a last-second shot to escape Connellsville with a 37-36 win.
The Lady Falcons (0-4, 3-9) scratched back late in the fourth quarter to tie the game without Elizabeth Painter and Maggie Orndorff sitting out the final two minutes after they fouled out.
Painter scored a team-high 11 points.
Connellsville鈥檚 Emily Burkus made the first of two foul shots with 1:54 left to close the game to three points, 34-31.
The Lady Colonials鈥� Grayce Panos made the second of two foul shots with 53.1 seconds left for a 35-31 lead, and converted 1-of-2 with 36.6 remaining for a 36-31 advantage.
Panos shared game-scoring honors with her teammate Mikayla Shea with 14 points apiece.
Connellsville鈥檚 Lily Show found the range from 3-point distance to slice the deficit to 36-34 with 25.8 seconds left.
The Lady Falcons鈥� full court pressure after Show鈥檚 3-pointer created a turnover, and Bailey Liska captured the loose ball and banked in a shot to tie the game with less than 15 seconds remaining.
Unfortunately, the Connellsville defense got caught up in the moment and fouled Colgan without a play on the ball.
鈥淭hey get excited,鈥� Connellsville coach Eric Painter said of the foul.
Colgan calmly made the first attempt, but didn鈥檛 have the opportunity for a second with a teammate called for a lane violation.
Connellsville rushed the ball up the floor and Whitney Bobish drove the baseline as time ticked down. However, her shot skipped across the rim with no chance for a last rebound. Bobish finished with eight points.
鈥淭hey fought hard. A lot of teams would鈥檝e packed it in,鈥� said Eric Painter. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 ask anything else, except for a win.鈥�
Painter added, 鈥淲e missed so many easy shots around the basket.鈥�
The Lady Colonials鈥� haven鈥檛 been faced with holding on down the stretch, but coach Craig Hoone was pleased with his squad鈥檚 reaction.
鈥淭he girls did respond,鈥� said Hoone. 鈥淭hey hung in there. We wanted to slow the game down (in the final two minutes) and they did a good job with that.
鈥淭o hold someone to 36 points, you鈥檙e doing something.鈥�
Though Hoone wasn鈥檛 pleased with his team鈥檚 play on the boards, noting, 鈥淎 vast majority of their points came on second chances. We gave up too many rebounds.鈥�
The Lady Falcons鈥� Bobish scored a breakaway layup with two seconds to go in the first quarter for an 8-7 lead.
Keyonna Thomas scored a three-point play late in the first half to give Albert Gallatin a 19-15 halftime lead.
The Lady Colonials鈥� Mya Glisan was held scoreless in the first half, but Panos scored 10 and Shea chipped in seven. Glisan scored all six of her points in the third quarter.
鈥淲e held Glisan down. That was our goal,鈥� said Eric Painter.
鈥淭he other girls stepped up,鈥� praised Hoone.
Connellsville cut the deficit to two points, 32-30 after three quarters, with Painter hitting three 3-pointers in the quarter.
鈥淚 felt Elizabeth shot real well,鈥� said Eric Painter.