Lady Prospectors earn second seed with overtime win against Lincoln.
PHILIPSBURG – When Granite and Lincoln met Saturday night in their regular season finale, second place in the District 13C standings and a first round bye in next week’s tournament were on the line.
When the dust settled, it took an overtime and two big three-point baskets by the Lady Prospectors Allison Benson to give the locals a 50-46 win over the Lady Lynx.
The extra day of rest and practice will be very beneficial for a Granite team that has been suffering from illness and its long recovery as the postseason approaches.
“That was a nail biter,” said GHS Head Coach Cash Laslovich after the game. “Allison stepped up when we needed her. She’s like that though. She surprises you in a lot of ways.
“I think this brings some positivity to our team and I think we needed this.”
The Lady Prospectors got a small lead and extended it by halftime to 22-16, but Lincoln stormed back with a 17-9 third period that put them ahead 33-31.
As the game closed in on the final seconds of regulation play, Granite had three shots at the basket but was unable to score on any of them.
In overtime, Benson’s two three-pointers and a layup by Ramsey Smith sealed the deal and gave Granite the advantage headed into postseason play.
Smith finished with a game-high 22 points that included four threes of her own.
Krymzen Dempster, Makenna Copehaver, and Kylee Copenhaver all had nine for the Lady Lynx.
Either team could have won the game in regulation had they just shot better from the free throw line. Granite finished 10-for-31 (32.3%) while Lincoln was 13-for-26 (50.0%).
Granite’s first-round bye means they will wait to play the winner of the Lincoln-Valley game on Friday at 1 p.m. Valley Christian tied Victor at 1-9, but the Lady Pirates hold the tiebreaker over the Lady Eagles.
GIRLS SCORING
Lincoln – 3/13/17/9/4 – 46
Granite – 6/16/9/11/8 – 50
Lincoln – Dempster 9, Brown 3, Zarske 7, MCopehaver 9, Dietz 3, Smith 4, KCopehaver 9
Granite – Smith 22, Pair 8, Benson 8, Tallon 3, Lilyquist 7, Flores 2
Boys Varsity
The Prospector boys finished a tough regular season, falling to Lincoln 64-3.
Jake Dauenhauer scored two and Jayce Quinlan 1 for the locals.
Granite will enter the postseason Thursday as the District 13C sixth place team, pitting them against third place Seeley Swan at 2:30 p.m.
BOYS SCORING
Lincoln – 24/21/13/6 – 64
Granite – 0/2/1/0 – 3
Lincoln – ABrown 13, Dempster 12, KTybo 7, Dietz 10, TTybo 12, Jakushak 6
Granite – Dauenhauer 2, Quinlan 1
