A MONROE MIRACLE: Southwestern stuns Corbin with last-second shot
- Jacob Pratt
- Jan 25
- 5 min read
SOMERSET - The inbounds pass from Kylie Dalton. The screen from Mollie Osborne. The basket in the paint from McKaila Monroe. Three underclassmen, and three all-around great plays to lift Southwestern to a 52-51 victory over Corbin, avenging a loss to the Lady Redhounds from last season and giving the Warriors a signature win heading into a big crosstown showdown on Tuesday. Take it from head coach Junior Molden, this team is finally putting it all together.
"We controlled what we were able to control. We got down eight with about four minutes left to go, but you can't go back and change anything. We've been in this situation a bunch this season, we really got better last night against Highlands in the loss, and we finally figured out how to play a full 32 minutes tonight," he explained.
Monroe started the game off with an offensive rebound and two for the Warriors, with Southwestern able to get out to a quick 7-0 advantage after two from Jaelyn Dye and a three-point basket from Ava Jones. Things went south for the remainder of the quarter however, as Corbin was able to go on their own run of 12-0 to take a 12-7 lead after the first eight minutes, thanks in no small part to some tremendous defense and five points from leading scorer Kylie Clem.
A three from Raegan Walker got the Redhounds off to a great start in the second before Kinsley Molden finally brought an end to an extended 15-0 Corbin run with a two-point basket. It wasn't long before the game was tied up at 17-17 however, as following two three-pointers from Molden as well as another two inside from Monroe the Warriors had fought back with a 10-2 run.
Monroe soon gave the Warriors back the lead with another basket inside. Clem put her team on her back late in the half though, scoring six straight points as the Redhounds were threatening to build their lead back up. Monroe brought some calm to the Southwestern sideline with three straight points to close the second period, with the home team behind by just two heading into the break at 24-22.
Molden continued her stellar shooting performance to begin play in the third, with a three giving the Warriors the lead back. A basket from Lydia King flipped the lead back again, before Molden struck from deep again to make it 28-26 in favor of Southwestern. Jones hit a three as well out of a Corbin timeout to give her team a five-point advantage, before Clem was able to score four straight points to again bring the Southwestern lead down to one.
A traditional three-point play from Dye again pushed the Warrior lead to four points, with Osborne adding three of her own the same way to push that lead out to five points. It truly looked like Southwestern had all of the momentum late, but the Redhounds stole that momentum right back after a pair of free throws from Walker and four straight points from Clem, including one shot that went in right before the buzzer. Corbin held a one-point edge at 40-39 heading into the final period and it looked like whoever held the ball last in this one would be coming away the winner.
Oh how true that sentiment proved to be as well. However, the Warriors had to survive one more Corbin run to get there. After a basket from Walker opened the scoring in the final quarter, King scored six straight points to give the Lady Redhounds an eight point lead at 48-39. It looked like the Warriors had no chance to get back in control of the ball game, but as always, you can't count this group out until the final buzzer.
A massive make from Molden on a deep three was immediately followed by another three from Jones as the Corbin lead was all of a sudden down to just three points. After a made basket from Walker, and following a made free throw from King and two Corbin timeouts, Dye was able to score a basket inside to bring their deficit to four points. After a pair of missed free throws from Walker, Jones drilled a huge three-pointer to bring the score to 51-50 in favor of Corbin with just seconds remaining on the clock.
Out of a Southwestern timeout, following the Warriors retaining the ball on a jump ball call, their play was ran to exact perfection. Osborne set a screen to get Monroe open after Molden drew the defense, Dalton found her freshman teammate in the paint, and that freshman had the coldest ice possible in her veins as she made perhaps the biggest basket of her career to this point with about two seconds left on the clock. A last-second heave was off by the Redhounds, and the Warriors celebrated a come-from-behind last-second victory 52-51. Coach Molden raved about all the players that came together for that special shot to give his team the win.
"The thing about Monroe getting that shot, and I knew we could get it for her, was Osborne having the perfect screen to get her that lob pass, Dalton being the perfect player to throw the inbounds pass, Kinsley drawing the defense's attention running to the corner, Dye going up high on the release. I knew based on the defense they were in we were going to get a good look it all came down to if we made it or not, and we did," he stated.
Molden led the way in the victory for the Warriors with 17 points. Other scorers included Monroe with 13, Jones with 12, Dye with seven and Osborne with three. Clem led Corbin with a game-high 20 points in the loss.
Southwestern improves to 11-8 for the season and will be back in action at the Wig Wam once again on Tuesday as they host crosstown rival Pulaski County, who on Saturday won their third game in as many days and their ninth game in a row.
Independent local stories like this are available to capture the essence of local sports. Support my continued independent work solely funded by donations. Local sport stories always deserve full coverage, it is my passion to highlight the talent and hard work put in by our youth. If you feel like donating, my Venmo is @PRATT-3523.
コメント